Teaming of Manned Aircraft with Unmanned Air Systems
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is gearing up to develop a manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) weapon system.
KAI announced on Oct. 28 that it has signed a contract with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) of Korea for the Helicopter-Unmanned Aircraft Interworking System Project, part of the Rapid Pilot Acquisition Project for 2021.
The Rapid Pilot Acquisition Project is being promoted by DAPA to verify weapons systems loaded with fourth industrial revolution technologies through pilot operations by the military before deciding to acquire them.
The Helicopter-Unmanned Aircraft Interworking System Project aims to set up a manned-unmanned teaming system that allows a helicopter pilot to directly control the unmanned air systems and provides the image information acquired by the unmanned air systems to the helicopter pilot in real time, thus expanding the operational radius of the combat aircraft.
Through this project, KAI will install unmanned air vehicle control equipment and a video information reception antenna in the Surion, a homemade maneuver helicopter, and test a helicopter-drone linkage system. This contract will run for 14 months from this month to December 2022 and cost 4 billion won.
MUM-T is a new concept of aviation weapon systems still being developed and tested in advanced countries such as the United States and Europe. This project is the first of its kind in Korea.
KAI plans to successfully complete and expand the project by establishing an MUM-T system with the Surion and the LAH, both of which are domestically produced choppers, through the development of canister-type unmanned aerial vehicles that can be mounted on helicopters.