Korean Air, KIMS jointly develop stealth aircraft materials and parts

Korean Air and The Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS) have agreed to cooperate in developing aircraft materials and parts technology together. The state-run research institute announced on Friday that it had signed an agreement with Korean Air at the 2023 Drone Show Korea held at BEXCO in Busan on the previous day.

The two sides pledged to lead the unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) industry with high future growth potential, to localize of materials and parts technology, revitalizing the development of related industries.

Since 2010, Korean Air has jointly participated in Korea's first stealth drone development project sponsored by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and succeeded in test flights.

In addition, the airline carried out the Korea Research Institute for Defense Technology Planning and Advancement (KRIT)'s heat-resistant, high-strength ceramic-based stealth composite materials development task.

With these partnerships, Korean Air is growing up as a leading tactical and medium altitude UAV system integrator. 

KIMS plans to actively cooperate with Korean Air by utilizing various original technologies in the field of aviation and materials technology and experience through participation in government-led stealth composite materials technology projects.

"As Korea's leading materials research institute, we will do our best to play a leading role in the development of aircraft materials and parts technology," said Jung-hwan Lee, president of KIMS.

Write to Seo-Woo Jang at suwu@hankyung.com