IAI and Hankuk Carbon team to develop VTOL unmanned systems

<p><strong>Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Korean composite manufacturer Hankuk Carbon will form a joint venture to new vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned air vehicles.</strong></p> <p>Under the terms of the memorandum of agreement, the JV will see the companies develop, manufacture, and sell VTOL UAVs, starting with a system with a 200-300kg maximum take-off weight.</p> <p>It will be developed according to the Korean customer&rsquo;s needs, and the JV will aim for 90% &ldquo;domestic localisation&rdquo; in Korea.</p> <p>Moon-soo Cho, Hankuk&rsquo;s chief executive, says the company has been interested in entering the aerospace market for some time, and a 5% annual growth in the industry makes it a good time to do so.</p> <p>&quot;We see the upcoming JV as a great opportunity for both companies to expand their business,&rdquo; Shaul Shahar, executive vice-president of IAI, adds. &ldquo;With Hankuk Carbon&rsquo;s composite material production capability and with IAI&rsquo;s 40 years of experience and knowhow of UAVs, the joint venture has the potential to become a leading VTOL UAV company, and to provide the best solution to our customers in Korea and worldwide.&rdquo;</p> <p>The companies are also considering adding shipborne take-off and landing capabilities to IAI/Hankuk&rsquo;s FE-Panther VTOL UAV, which will be available by the end of 2018.</p> <p><img alt="Asset Image" src="https://www.flightglobal.com/assets/getasset.aspx?itemid=64332" style="margin:0px" /></p> <p>Israel Aerospace Industries</p> <p>The UAV is powered by lithium polymer batteries and a gasoline engine, and has an endurance of 8h with 6kg payload. It has a 130km range and a maximum speed of 100km/h, and has an automatic VTOL capability.</p> <p>Hankuk and IAI are also co-developing the hybrid propulsion system for VTOL UAVs funded by the Korea-Israel Industrial R&amp;D Foundation.</p>