The government will embark on developing a hybrid future aircraft that uses both batteries and engines. It plans to push a government-led development program targeting the first flight of a basic prototype at the end of 2030.
The Korea AeroSpace Administration said on the 10th that it held the "8th Space and Aviation SOS roundtable" at its headquarters with domestic aircraft system and materials and parts corporations and discussed this direction for future aircraft development.
The roundtable was arranged to follow up on the "Strategy to foster Korea's space and aviation industry" announced on the 3rd. Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Korean Air Lines, Hyundai Motor, Doosan Enerbility, Hanwha Systems, Samsung SDI, and 20 corporations in the aircraft, engine, and materials and parts sectors attended.
The Korea AeroSpace Administration also presented a development concept dividing the roles of the government and the private sector. The government will focus on developing hybrid future aircraft, while the private sector will lead purely battery-based aircraft.
The hybrid aircraft developed by the government will be designed as a basic platform that can expand its scope of use depending on missions in future public and commercial markets. The goal is to secure scalability so it can be applied to a wide range of fields, including firefighting, medical services, and public services.
The participating corporations suggested that to build a domestic future aircraft industrial ecosystem, participation by domestic materials and parts corporations should be increased and new technologies should first be secured through government-led system development programs. There were also opinions that support for test and demonstration infrastructure, the creation of initial public demand, and systems to back the participation of domestic materials and parts corporations are needed.
Oh Tae-seok, head of the Korea AeroSpace Administration, said, "Securing an indigenous future aircraft platform will be the foundation for boosting the competitiveness of the private aviation industry," and added, "We will review support measures so that government investment can lead to actual industrialization and exports."