By Choi Kyong-ae
Korea will invest 1 trillion won ($945 million) to develop helicopters by 2022 in a joint project with a multinational company, the government said Thursday.
Possible multinational partners include Italy's Agusta Westland Helicopters, Sikorsky Aircraft and Bell Helicopter in the U.S., and Eurocopter, which is a joint venture set up between Germany and France, an official at Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) told The Korea Times by telephone.
"We are targeting to develop civil and military helicopters not only for local use, but also for export in the long-term," the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement.
The development project is aimed at replacing aging helicopters in the Korean military. It also targets to make inroads into global markets with civil helicopters widely used for medical transports or sea surveillance, the statement said.
The government plans to select one Korean partner from two candidates ― KAI and Korean Air Lines ― this year to kick off the project. It will then select a foreign partner, the ministry said.
A Korean consortium made up of the trade ministry, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology, will look at proposals from KAI and Korean Air and pick one of them as early as the third quarter of this year, it said.
Under the latest project, Korea is planning to develop a civil helicopter by 2020 and a military one based on the same platform by 2022, the statement said.
"Several foreign aircraft companies have shown interest in our helicopter development project in recent years," Lee Sang-joon, director of the MOTIE's automobile and aerospace industry division, said by telephone.
Before it selects a foreign aircraft firm in October, the Korean consortium will give a serious consideration to technology level, financial health and sales networks, Lee said.
"That's because we have to seek help from the selected foreign partner in order to sell the helicopters in global markets," he said. Currently, Korea is not an exporter of helicopters, civil or military.
Previously, Korea partnered with Eurocopter to develop the Surion helicopter in a 1.3 trillion won project for domestic military use. But it has yet to find a customer outside Korea, he explained.
"We are making efforts to export the Surion helicopter in a bid to make it a core export item, along with ships and cars," the KAI official said.
When it comes to aircraft exports, Korea has shipped $2 billion worth of the FA-50 combat aircraft to Indonesia, Iraq and the Philippines since May 2011. And $655 million worth of the KT-1 basic trainer have been shipped to Indonesia, Turkey and Peru since February 2001, KAI said.
Korea will invest 1 trillion won ($945 million) to develop helicopters by 2022 in a joint project with a multinational company, the government said Thursday.
Possible multinational partners include Italy's Agusta Westland Helicopters, Sikorsky Aircraft and Bell Helicopter in the U.S., and Eurocopter, which is a joint venture set up between Germany and France, an official at Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) told The Korea Times by telephone.
"We are targeting to develop civil and military helicopters not only for local use, but also for export in the long-term," the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a statement.
The development project is aimed at replacing aging helicopters in the Korean military. It also targets to make inroads into global markets with civil helicopters widely used for medical transports or sea surveillance, the statement said.
The government plans to select one Korean partner from two candidates ― KAI and Korean Air Lines ― this year to kick off the project. It will then select a foreign partner, the ministry said.
A Korean consortium made up of the trade ministry, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology, will look at proposals from KAI and Korean Air and pick one of them as early as the third quarter of this year, it said.
Under the latest project, Korea is planning to develop a civil helicopter by 2020 and a military one based on the same platform by 2022, the statement said.
"Several foreign aircraft companies have shown interest in our helicopter development project in recent years," Lee Sang-joon, director of the MOTIE's automobile and aerospace industry division, said by telephone.
Before it selects a foreign aircraft firm in October, the Korean consortium will give a serious consideration to technology level, financial health and sales networks, Lee said.
"That's because we have to seek help from the selected foreign partner in order to sell the helicopters in global markets," he said. Currently, Korea is not an exporter of helicopters, civil or military.
Previously, Korea partnered with Eurocopter to develop the Surion helicopter in a 1.3 trillion won project for domestic military use. But it has yet to find a customer outside Korea, he explained.
"We are making efforts to export the Surion helicopter in a bid to make it a core export item, along with ships and cars," the KAI official said.
When it comes to aircraft exports, Korea has shipped $2 billion worth of the FA-50 combat aircraft to Indonesia, Iraq and the Philippines since May 2011. And $655 million worth of the KT-1 basic trainer have been shipped to Indonesia, Turkey and Peru since February 2001, KAI said.
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