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Korean Air fast-tracks AI-powered high-speed drone program
By Lee Han-gyoul, The Korea Herald - Korean
Air said Thursday it is stepping up development of next-generation, artificial
intelligence-enabled high-speed target uncrewed aerial vehicles, after
completing a key system requirements review.
The review, held Wednesday at the
Daejeon Convention Center, was attended by officials from the Defense
Acquisition Program Administration, the Navy, the Air Force and the Korea
Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Advancement.
The milestone comes four months after
Korean Air secured a project from DAPA to replace foreign-made target drones
with domestically developed systems.
The high-speed target UAV under
development is designed to reach Mach 0.6 — about 735 kilometers per hour — the
fastest level for such a system in Korea.
Given the technical complexity of
high-speed flight control, the company plans to leverage its expertise in
uncrewed aerial systems to complete a prototype rollout and conduct a maiden
flight by next year.
Korean Air aims to integrate advanced AI
to enable swarm control and greater mission autonomy, enhancing operational
effectiveness in training and combat scenarios.
The UAV will also adopt a modular,
open-architecture design, allowing mission-specific sensors and equipment to be
installed and operated flexibly, improving both cost efficiency and
adaptability.
The company targets deployment-ready
systems by 2028, positioning the program as a foundation for the military’s
broader push into crewed-uncrewed teaming and small collaborative drone
operations.
“The combination of high-speed uncrewed
aircraft design and AI technology is critical for K-defense to secure a
competitive edge in the global market,” a Korean Air official said.
The company added it aims to localize
high-speed target UAV systems ahead of schedule to strengthen South Korea’s
defense capabilities.
