Homegrown military helicopter unveiled

The military unveiled the prototype of the first Korean-made helicopter yesterday to replace aging transport choppers and compete in the global aerospace market.

President Lee Myung-bak and top officials celebrated the production of the Korea Utility Helicopter named "Surion" in a ceremony at the plant of Korea Aerospace Industries in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province.

KAI, the nation`s sole aircraft maker, led the three-year, 1.3 trillion won ($1.05 billion) project that has made Korea the 11th country to possess technology to design and manufacture a helicopter.



"The successful development of the Korean-style helicopter should lay the foundation for the nation to become an advanced aerospace country," Lee said in the ceremony.

Test flights will begin in March and about 200 units should be in operation around 2012, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said.

Surion is designed to fit for the mountainous topography of the Korean Peninsula, officials said.

It can travel at a speed of 140 knots for more than two hours with nine fully-equipped soldiers and can make a vertical ascent at a speed of 500 feet per minute, according to the defense procurement agency.

It is equipped with an automated navigation device, a radar warning system and other high-tech gears.

The 15 meter-long and 4.5 meter-high helicopter is smaller than the U.S. UH-60 Black Hawks.

Surions will replace the U.S. UH-1Hs and 500MDs which have been in service for more than 30 years, the DAPA said.

More than 60 percent of components including blades were made by Korean engineers.

The technological achievement should boost Korea`s efforts to develop its own attack helicopters.

The Defense Ministry recently indicated it may scrap a plan to purchase second-hand U.S. Apaches.

Up to 90 percent of technology for Surion can be used to build attack helicopters, it said.

The aircraft also has a civilian application. Its design has met 96 percent of international operational standards for civilian helicopters, the agency said.

In partnership with Eurocopter, an affiliate of European aviation company EADS, KAI aims to export 300 units for the next 25 years, taking 30 percent of the market for Surion-class helicopters.

(jjhwang@heraldm.com)



By Hwang Jang-jin