Korea Unveils Surion Helicopter

KAI debuts most high-tech helicopter in the world

Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. held a ceremony on July 31 to commemorate the development and production of Surion, a helicopter made with its own technologies, at its head office in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, with President Lee Myung-bak in attendance along with 1,000 other participants including related government officials, military brass and KAI employees, the company said. Dignitaries at the ceremony included Rep. Kim Hak-song, chairman of the National Assembly National Defense Committee, Minister of National Defense Lee Sang-hee, and Minister of Knowledge Economy Lee Youn-ho, among others.
The ceremony marked Korea's joining only 10 other countries in the world that produce helicopters using homegrown technologies. Surion can carry a fully armed infantry squad and cruise for two hours at speeds of up to 140 knots or 259 km per hour, Lee Jae-hong, director of the Machinery Aerospace and Defense Industries Division of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said. It can also rise at a speed of 500 feet per minute and fly at a height of 10,000 feet or 2,700 meters. It can also suspend flight in midair in a stationary position and is equipped with an automatic pilot system, automatic warning system, defense system and watch system.
President Lee at the ceremony said there were doubts if the project to develop a helicopter in Korea with its own technologies would be successful at the start, but all of those engaged in the project worked hard to pull it off with a positive attitude and a challenging spirit. "Surion would not only be a huge contribution to our national defense, but also help the defense industry's export of arms in the future," Lee said.
Surion is an amalgamation of the Korean word for eagle, "Suri," and the English word, "Own," signifying the use of KAI's own technologies, KAI officials said.
Surion is the first such helicopter with a heavy application of IT, making it the foremost high-tech helicopter in the world, having been designed with computers.
KAI invested 1.3 trillion won to develop the helicopter since 2006 to replace UH-1H and 500 MD helicopters in the military arsenal and will be put into combat use in 2012 following a testing period. It can fly so high that it would be able to join in military campaigns on high mountains, as it is equipped with digital maps and satellite navigation equipment, enabling it to fly to its destinations on auto pilot. Its pilot computers and infrared equipment can help its flight during rough weather conditions at night.
Surion can detect anything on the ground even at night using its infrared equipment, a sensor that can distinguish objects by their temperature. Pilots wear special helmets that can give them various types of information including an enemy missile attack. Surion is equipped with equipment to issue a warning against such attacks and fire fireballs to confuse enemy missiles in flight.
The situation monitoring equipment can tell the replacement time for key instruments on Surion to prevent malfunctions.
Over 180 companies participated in the development of Surion, supplying up to 90 percent of the parts and equipment for the new helicopter including the rotor blade whose production technologies are hard to get, as foreign companies are reluctant to transfer those technologies, thus requiring Korean companies to develop it themselves.
KAI projects it will be able to export 300 Surions in cooperation with Euro Copter and plans to produce other types of helicopters with Surion as the basic model for such purposes as fire fighting, medical missions and landing.
KAI can boast the fact that it now has secured various technologies to produce T-50 trainer aircraft, the KT-1 and now the helicopter rotor blade, which requires an intricate set of technologies to produce, technologies that can be compared with those owned by advanced countries, KAI officials said.
They said KAI will now be able to develop other types of helicopters effectively and competitively, creating 13.8 trillion won worth of economic effects including 200,000 new jobs, making a huge contribution to the growth of the national economy.
KAI plans to strengthen its position in the international aeronautics industry with the addition of Surion to the existing production lines of T-50 and KT-1, and expand the base of the domestic aerospace industry by providing support to the various cooperative companies in the area including sharing parts of overseas orders so that they can advance together to become a global aerospace company under its mid-to-long term development strategy. nw

President Lee Myung-bak listens to KAI President Kim Hong-kyung during his tour of KAI plant following a ceremony to launch the Surion helicopter at KAI's head office in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, on July 31.

President Lee Myung-bak delivers a speech at the launching ceremony for Surion helicopter.