Korean Air partners with Boeing for UAV development

Published : Oct 22, 2021 - 10:22 Updated : Oct 22, 2021 - 10:22

This photo taken on Thursday, shows Park Jung-woo (L), senior vice president of Korean Air's Aerospace Business Division, and Randy Rotte, regional director in charge of Asia-Pacific sales at Insitu after the MOU ceremony for UAV cooperation at the 2021 Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition. (Yonhap)

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's biggest carrier, said Friday it has partnered with Boeing to jointly develop an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in preparation for future mobility demand.

Korean Air signed a memorandum of understanding with Boeing's subsidiary Insitu for technical cooperation to develop a lightweight and modularized tactical vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAV at the 2021 Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX), the company said in a statement.

"We expect a synergy effect by combining Korean Air's expertise in UAV production and Insitu's advanced UAV technologies such as system optimization and manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) operations," it said.

Established in 1994, Insitu develops and manufactures unmanned aircraft systems and has developed Scan Eagle, an UAV operated by the US Department of Defense. (Yonhap)