Lee Hyo-jin covers the Bank of Korea, the banking industry and broader financial news. Her previous beats include foreign affairs, North Korea and general reporting on Korean society.
INTERVIEW Airbility bets on high-speed drones as Iran war reshapes counter-drone market
Airbility CEO and co-founder Lee Jin-mo / Courtesy of Airbility
By Lee Hyo-jin
Counter-drone makers gain momentum as military shifts toward unmanned warfare
Editor’s note
This is the first in a series of interviews with the heads of promising startups that are pioneers of their respective fields and seek to go public in the near future. The Korea Times will run five more such interviews through the year’s end. — ED.
The recent U.S.-Israeli war against Iran underscored an increasingly costly reality of modern warfare: Shooting down a low-cost drone can require an interceptor missile worth more than 100 times as much.
As inexpensive drones become more common on the battlefield, militaries are searching for more cost-effective ways to defend against them. That shift is creating new opportunities for companies developing next-generation counter-drone technologies.
One of them is Airbility, a Korean startup developing an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered counter-drone system built around a reusable high-speed unmanned aircraft system.
Its CEO believes the company's platform could offer a more economical alternative to conventional air defense systems by deploying interceptor drones from the air, rather than relying solely on costly ground-based missile systems.
"In modern conflicts, such as the war in Ukraine and the recent U.S.-Iran conflict, we've repeatedly seen militaries fire interceptor missiles costing more than 100 times as much as the low-cost drones they are trying to shoot down," Airbility CEO and co-founder Lee Jin-mo said in an interview with The Korea Times on Tuesday.
"This problem cannot be solved simply by deploying more expensive weapons," he said. "We believed the answer was to develop ways to intercept drones at a much lower cost using the high-speed electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technology."
Founded in late 2023 by former engineers from the Agency for Defense Development and Hyundai Motor Group, Airbility is developing an AI-powered counter-drone platform built around high-speed eVTOL aircraft.
The company has successfully completed transition flights with three prototype aircraft.
A transition flight refers to the maneuver in which an aircraft takes off vertically before transitioning to fixed-wing flight for high-speed forward travel. The aircraft must perform both vertical lift and fast horizontal flight in a single operation.
In essence, it combines the flexibility of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing aircraft, making it suitable for intercepting fast-moving drones.
Only a few companies worldwide have successfully demonstrated the capability, Lee said.
"Our founding engineers previously contributed to Korea's flagship aircraft programs, including the KT-1 trainer, T-50 supersonic aircraft and KF-21 fighter jet. While Airbility itself is only two-and-a-half years old, our team brings together decades of experience in aerospace and mobility," the CEO said.
A prototype of Airbility's AB-U60 aircraft / Courtesy of Airbility
The company's flagship AB-U60 aircraft has a wingspan of about 3 meters and can travel at speeds exceeding 200 kilometers per hour while carrying payloads of up to 10 kilograms.
Designed as a multirole platform, the AB-U60 can be used for cargo transport, surveillance and counter-drone missions. During such missions, the aircraft serves as a reusable carrier platform, releasing interceptor drones near the target before returning to base.
Lee said the drone's greatest advantage is speed.
"You can't neutralize a threat if your aircraft is slower," he said. "The AB-U60 can exceed 200 kilometers per hour after transitioning to fixed-wing flight, giving it a 2.5-times speed advantage over typical attack drones."
The rapid expansion of government investment in military drones has created favorable conditions for the counter-drone industry.
The Ministry of National Defense recently announced plans to acquire more than 20,000 low-cost drones as part of a sweeping overhaul of its unmanned warfare strategy, while the government in March launched an inter-ministry task force to strengthen Korea's drone industry.
"We believe Korea has moved beyond the stage of wondering whether a counter-drone market will emerge," Lee said. "The government is now committing meaningful budgets to counter-drone capabilities, creating opportunities for new entrants like us."
The CEO said the company's initial customers are expected to be the military and government agencies.
"Military demonstration programs and counter-drone R&D projects led by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration are likely to become our first reference projects," he said.
Airbility CEO Lee Jin-mo, third from left, poses with company executives at the company's manufacturing facility in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Courtesy of Airbility
Beyond the domestic market, Airbility is also expanding its overseas footprint.
"Many of the most advanced U.S. technologies are subject to export restrictions," the CEO said, referring to the U.S. government's International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
"As a Korean company with fewer geopolitical constraints, we believe we can serve overseas clients that have less access to U.S. suppliers."
Airbility is currently working with Vietnam's CT Group and Saudi Arabia's SANAD Industrial Company to explore partnerships in counter-drone technologies and localized production.
"The Middle East is a market where customers typically require local manufacturing and technology transfer," Lee said. "Rather than making a one-time deal, we see opportunities to establish a long-term presence in that region by establishing joint ventures and building local production lines."
Lee said the company's competitiveness extends beyond aircraft performance to its supply chain strategy. The company develops its own key technologies, including battery packs and flight-control software amid growing need for local defense manufacturers to reduce reliance on Chinese-made components.
The company is in the final stages of its Series A funding round.
Upon its completion, cumulative funding is expected to reach 10 billion won ($6.4 million), including private investment and government-backed research and development support, Lee noted.
Airbility plans to use the proceeds to expand production capacity and accelerate its overseas expansion.
"The next five years will be about building a meaningful track record in the market," Lee said. "We aim to generate more than 50 billion won in cumulative revenue by 2028 and pursue an initial public offering the following year."