KAI to Develop 'Vibration Control' Software for Next-Generation Helicopter Technology

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) announced on the 15th that it will jointly develop software for an active vibration control device, a next-generation core technology for helicopters, with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).

KAI and KARI signed an agreement with the Agency for Defense Development for the core technology R&D project initiated in 2021, titled "Development of Active Vibration Control Device SW for Vibration Reduction in Medium Helicopters."

The active vibration control device SW technology automatically controls helicopter vibrations by adjusting the angle of the rotor blades. It is one of the next-generation helicopter technologies under research and development for commercialization even in advanced aerospace countries.

In this project, KAI plans to develop the active vibration control device SW and verification equipment, conduct reliability tests, and apply it to the final Surion prototype to demonstrate its performance.

The development cost is approximately 12.3 billion KRW, and the development period is a total of 48 months from December 2021 to December 2025.

KAI is promoting core technology development for the evolutionary development of existing helicopters such as Surion performance upgrades, manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T), and next-generation maneuvering helicopter development, as well as future-type helicopter development.

If the research and development of the active vibration control system is successfully completed and installed on a domestically produced medium helicopter, it will become the world's first case applied to operational aircraft.

A KAI official said, "We continue research on future helicopter technologies through cooperation with the government and domestic industry-academia-research sectors," adding, "This will help break away from overseas dependence on helicopter technology, strengthen military power, and contribute to the development of the helicopter industry by enhancing the competitiveness of domestically produced helicopters."

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