| Surion | |
|---|---|
| Role | Medium transport helicopter |
| Manufacturer | Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) |
| First flight | March 10, 2010[1] |
| Status | Under development |
| Primary user | Republic of Korea Army |
The KAI Surion is a twin-engine, transport utility helicopter developed primarily by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) jointly with Eurocopter. The Korea Helicopter Project - Korea Utility Helicopter program is to cost about 1.3 trillion won ($1.05 billion, 0.75 billion euros), and was launched in 2006 under the Agency for Defense Development.[2][3] Full-scale production will begin in 2012 with KAI being the principal builder.[3][4] Around 245 Surions are on order to replace the aging fleet of UH-1H attack helicopters and 500MD light helicopters,[3] which have been in service for decades. South Korea will also build civilian variants of the helicopter, marketing around 300 Surions.[3]
The Surion has an external similarity to Eurocopter's Puma.[3]
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In June 2006, KAI and Eurocopter won the KHP/KUH 1.3 trillion-won research and development contract (0,85 billion-euros) from the South Korean Defense Ministry to start the project. It remains Seoul's biggest arms deal ever with a non-US company. A production contract worth about 4.4 trillion won (2.9 billion-euros) is expected to be signed around 2011 before the start of mass production. Eurocopter has a stake of 30 percent in the 2006-2012 development phase and 20 percent in the following 10-year production phase,and KAI and South Korea government having the rest. As the prime sub-contractor, Eurocopter has provided technical assistance in parts of developing the power transmission, main gear box, boom and tail gearboxes, automatic flight control system and rotor mast.[3] Eurocopter experts were dispatched in KAI premises (Sacheon, South Korea) to provide support and teach KAI engineers the state of the art in helicopter design.[3] Power is provided by a pair of 1,600 shp General Electric T700 turboshafts. Elbit Systems of Israel produces the Helmet mounted display (HMD), an advanced system which allow the pilot/copilot full day and night missions. A large IR suppressor exhausts of the Surion are adapted from those of the Eurocopter EC 725. The first prototype was unveiled by President Lee Myung-bak at an unveiling ceremony in Sacheon.[5]
In 2009, there was a slight delay in the program due to budget trimming of some ministries.[6]
Variants were planned by KAI aside from the manufacture of the Surion.[2]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
Avionics
GPS, INS, digital MAP, FLIR, HUMS, IRSS, MWS CMDS IRCM EWC RWR LWR, OBIGGS, tactical C4I, ECS, HOCAS, AFCS
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