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| From left to right, Hanwha Systems CEO Eoh Sung-chul, NLR General Director Michel Peters, Jung Min-chul, head of the Korea Airports' innovative air mobility division, and Henk van Dijk, vice president of aerospace operations at NLR pose after signing a memorandum of understanding for collaboration on the urban air mobility ecosystem, June 21, in this photo provided by Hanwha Systems. Yonhap |
Hanwha Systems, the defense and ICT unit of Korea's Hanwha Group, said Friday it and the state-run airports operator have signed deals with a Dutch and a British partner to collaborate on urban air mobility (UAM) technologies.
Hanwha Systems and the Korea Airports Corp. (KAC) clinched a memorandum of understanding with NLR, the Netherlands' state aerospace research institute, to develop technologies and infrastructure for the UAM ecosystem, such as the traffic management system, known as the UATM, and vertiports, which refer to the landing and takeoff pads for electric air vehicles, Hanwha Systems said.
The signing took place Wednesday (local time) on the margins of the Paris Air Show taking place near the French capital this week, where Hanwha's key defense units are taking part to present their products and technologies.
In a separate deal, Hanwha and the KAC signed a preliminary agreement with Urban-Air Port (UAP), a UAM startup, to work together on the application of Hanwha's traffic management system to its overseas vertiports and establishing vertiports in Korea.
Established in 1919, the NLR is one of the most highly recognized aerospace technology research organizations engaged in a wide range of fields related to aviation and space. It is participating as a leading institution in a major UAM project led by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, according to Hanwha.
UAP specializes in building vertiports for drones and electric vertical take-off landing (eVTOL) aircraft. It has built and begun pilot operations of Air One, its fully operational UAM port in Coventry in central England.
UAP plans to introduce Air One to major cities in Europe and around the world, including Korea.
Hanwha Systems is heavily investing in the UAM sector as one of its future growth engines. It plans to complete the production of its UAM prototype by the year-end and is developing a UAM navigation and control solution and a traffic management system. (Yonhap)
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