The Republic of Korea Army displays the Battalion surveillance UAV at ADEX 2023 in Seoul. (Janes/Amit Kalra)
The Republic of Korea Army (RoKA) displayed the Battalion multi-purpose rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (ADEX) 2023 held in Seoul from 17 to 22 October.
The UAV is being developed by the RoKA's Army Tiger Demonstration Brigade, which was formed in 2022 to test and integrate artificial intelligence (AI) and unmanned systems capability.
A representative from the RoKA told Janes that the army is preparing to trial the Battalion UAV, which is being developed in collaboration with local firm Preneu, in June 2024.
The UAV has a modular airframe, which enables rapid deployment from storage and the integration of different types of payloads. The UAV's airframe houses an electrical powertrain, avionics, a chin-mounted electro-optical/infrared payload, a two-blade main rotor assembly, three landing legs, a tail skid, and two side-by-side battery housing compartments. The tailboom incorporates communication antennas, and a tail rotor fitted to the starboard side.
According to RoKA information, the UAV is 2.9 m in length, has a maximum take-off weight of 18.5 kg, can operate at a maximum speed of 72 km/h, and has a flight endurance of 90 min. Payload-carrying capacity has not been disclosed but Janes understands it could be up to 3.5 kg.
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