Korean Air will localize the military's subsonic (below the speed of sound) unmanned target drone.
Korean Air said on the 6th that it won a project supported by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration to localize components for a weapon system.
Accordingly, Korean Air will carry out the development task for "four items including a console for control and command for a multi-purpose training support craft" through Sept. 2028. The research and development cost, including government support funds, is about 23 billion won.
Through this project, Korean Air will localize key components such as the airframe of the subsonic unmanned target drone, control and command equipment, and the launcher. That would allow replacement of the foreign-purchased target drones currently operated by the Navy on multi-purpose training support craft. The localized unmanned target drone is planned to be introduced by the Air Force as well.
A Korean Air official said, "This project is a turning point in establishing a localization foundation in the training support unmanned systems field, which had a high dependence on imports," and added, "Based on the technology accumulated and mass-production capabilities, we will contribute to the defense autonomy of unmanned platforms and the strengthening of defense industry competitiveness."