Pocheon City, Final Report Meeting on Advanced Drone Infrastructure Facilities and AAM Support Measures Service

by Lee jonggu

Published 19 Dec.2024 12:14(KST)

Pocheon City, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Baek Young-hyun) announced on the 19th that it held a joint final report meeting on the 18th for three projects aimed at establishing infrastructure facilities and preparing support measures related to the advanced drone industry.

Pocheon City held a joint final report meeting on the 18th for three projects aimed at establishing infrastructure facilities and preparing support measures related to fostering the advanced drone industry. Photo by Pocheon City

This report meeting was organized to discuss various project results, including the Civil-Military Advanced Drone Comprehensive Training Center, the Civil-Military Drone Testing and Evaluation Support Center, and support measures for the Future Air Mobility (AAM) demonstration project.

The research projects were planning studies conducted to revitalize the domestic drone industry ecosystem and successfully establish the manned-unmanned combined combat system, a core element of Defense Innovation 4.0, incorporating diverse opinions from civil, military, industry, academia, and research sectors.

Pocheon City is focusing its administrative efforts on transitioning to a new growth industry and responding to population decline by centering on the drone industry utilizing advanced technologies based on the 4th Industrial Revolution, including the Advanced Drone Domestic Industry Complex (Opportunity Development Special Zone), drone infrastructure facility construction, and attracting advanced mobility research institutes.

Drones have recently gained increasing military and commercial value worldwide, making the cultivation of specialized talent essential. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the 2nd Basic Plan for Drone Industry Development aiming to become one of the world’s top five drone powers by 2030 and is promoting various projects to foster a healthy domestic drone industry ecosystem.

To this end, Pocheon City plans to establish a Civil-Military Advanced Drone Comprehensive Training Center that combines virtual reality (metaverse) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to nurture customized talent.

Additionally, the city will build facilities capable of testing, evaluating, and certifying drone airframes and components, and support companies’ test flights in connection with the Drone Special Free Zone.

Furthermore, Pocheon is closely cooperating with related companies and the military to enable urban air mobility (UAM) demonstrations considering the military’s mid- to long-term adoption, as well as tourism-type urban air mobility linked to tourist sites such as Sanjeong Lake and Hantan River within Pocheon.

To promote these projects, Pocheon City is proceeding with administrative procedures such as land acquisition next year and is striving to secure national and local government funding with the goal of starting construction in 2026.

Alongside this, the city is advancing projects to create an industrial complex for the localization of drone components and to attract advanced mobility research institutes. To this end, it has signed an agreement with Seoul National University’s Intelligent Unmanned Mobility Research Center to establish a research institute in the region, contributing to the national drone industry development.

A Pocheon City official stated, “This report meeting is an opportunity to create new growth engines through the convergence of advanced technology and the local economy,” adding, “We will continue to accelerate the development of the drone industry and lead regional development.”