Silence of the Producer
South Korean news agencies reported on May 10 that the KUH-1 Surion helicopter has some defects but the authorities concerned have hidden it since the first test flight.
According to them, four out of the seven units in question have cracks near their vibration absorbers mounted on the left sides of the frames and some of the others have similar cracks on their windshields.
On the following day, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said in response that the cracked parts pose no safety problem at all because they have nothing to do with the flight safety parts and principal structure elements, and thus it will take appropriate measures next month without halting the flight of the helicopters. It added though that the possibility of redesign remains open in the event of a fundamental design flaw.
The defects of Surion helicopters, which the Korean government developed with 1.3 trillion won (US$1.1 billion) from the people’s pocket, could not, however, but be exempted from the same criticisms as those of surface vessel rescue ships, antitank missiles and k-11 objective individual combat weapons, where the government poured huge money. Those defects were allegedly engaged in monetary corruption, bad investigation or poor verification.
Still, the Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI), which produces the helicopter, has yet to come up with its official statement by just saying, “We are processing the investigation with the DAPA.” Although the DAPA has claimed that the cracks on the windshields are attributable to external shocks such as stone collisions during take-off, the possibility of wrong design or a problem during the manufacturing process cannot be ruled out. Further, this has been pointed out since the first test flight in 2010 but the DAPA and the KAI have tried to conceal it from the beginning, according to local news media. At present, about 40 Surion helicopters are in operation by the Republic of Korea Army, and the KAI is planning to export 300 units to Southeast Asia and Latin America by 2023.
In the meantime, two Indonesian pilots of T-50 supersonic trainer jets, which the KAI had built, fell to the death during an airshow in December last year. The Indonesian government said at that time that the aircraft were brand new and the pilots were veterans, claiming that the reason for the fall should be found out along with enforcing the KAI to be involved in the investigation. The KAI sold 16 T-50 trainer jets to the East Asian country and completed their deployment there in 2014. The trainer jets also fell two times in South Korea and have killed three pilots, too, since its first deployment in 2005. The unit price of T-50 is around 25 billion won (US$21.7 million).