Korean Air Signs Military Supply Contract for Self-Developed 'Hybrid Drone'

Survivability Enhancement Features

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] Korean Air announced on the 30th that it recently signed a Rapid Demonstration Acquisition Project contract with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) and will supply its self-developed 'hybrid drone' to the military.

The Rapid Demonstration Acquisition Project signed between Korean Air and DAPA is a program that allows the military to quickly apply products incorporating innovative civilian new technologies as part of weapon systems. Korean Air's hybrid drone corresponds to the 'coastal surveillance vertical takeoff and landing drone (rotary-wing)' category of this project.

According to this contract, Korean Air will deliver six hybrid drones to DAPA by the end of October. The military will conduct a demonstration operation for about six months until the end of April next year and decide on subsequent mass production.

The hybrid drone, developed by Korean Air since 2016, is equipped with a hybrid engine combining an internal combustion engine and a battery, significantly extending the drone's operating time from the existing 30 minutes to 2 hours. Additionally, the power source is duplicated to allow flight solely on battery power in case of engine failure, enhancing survivability.

Furthermore, to enable mission performance in various environments, the maximum flight altitude was increased to 500m, the maximum flight speed to 72 km/h, and the operating temperature range was expanded to function normally between -20°C and 45°C, improving performance more than twice compared to existing drones.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.