Cho Won-tae Leads Hanjin’s AI Drone Push as Aerospace-Defense Game Changer Looms - 인사이트코리아

Korean Air Accelerates Aerospace Expansion, With Unmanned Aircraft Emerging as a Future Growth Engine Drones and AI Make Next-Generation Warfare a Reality, Redrawing Military Strategy [InsightKorea = Sim Min-Hyeon] As drones played a pivotal role in the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, the balance of modern warfare is shifting. Their mission set is expanding beyond reconnaissance and attack to include interception, cementing unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, as a core low-cost, high-efficiency weapons platform. Against that backdrop, Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae is accelerating Korean Air’s push into aerospace, positioning drone and unmanned-aircraft technologies as one of the company’s next growth engines. War underscores the value of drones as Korean Air steps up unmanned-aircraft business According to industry officials on Saturday, drones were central to the planning and execution of U.S. and Israeli military operations aimed at precision strikes on Iran. Carrying out a range of missions including intelligence gathering, precision attacks and the disruption of air-defense networks, drones have emerged as a game changer in modern warfare. Compared with large-scale manned assets, drones are relatively inexpensive and operationally efficient, prompting militaries around the world to race to expand their unmanned capabilities. In particular, drone technologies capable of long-endurance reconnaissance and autonomous mission execution are increasingly becoming a core element of military strategy. In step with those changes, Korean Air is treating aerospace as a future growth pillar and expanding investment in unmanned systems. Since taking over as chairman in 2019, Mr. Cho has steadily increased investment in the aerospace business. At a briefing for Korean Air’s new corporate identity in March last year, he again stressed the need for sustained investment in aerospace. Korean Air has already developed the KUS-FS, a medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle for reconnaissance, and moved into the mass-production stage. The aircraft can remain airborne for more than 24 hours and is capable of identifying ground targets from an altitude of about 13 kilometers, giving it significant surveillance capability. South Korea’s Air Force plans to begin full-scale operations this year and introduce about 10 units by 2028. In January, the airline also made a strategic equity investment in drone specialist Pablo Air, stepping up efforts to secure core unmanned-aircraft technologies. Pablo Air is known for having swarm artificial-intelligence technology, a next-generation drone operation capability. Swarm AI enables multiple drones to fly in coordinated formations, much like flocks of birds. Pablo Air recently succeeded in entering High Swarming, the fourth of five levels in swarm-coordination technology. Korean Air plans to integrate Pablo Air’s swarm-AI autonomous-flight algorithms, integrated control platform and small- and medium-size UAV development capabilities into its own medium- and large-size unmanned aircraft. To that end, the two sides agreed to cooperate in supporting Pablo Air’s growth, conducting joint R&D on swarm flight, exploring new business models, and exchanging technology and operational know-how in unmanned systems. Korean Air is also strengthening global technology partnerships. Last year, it joined hands with U.S. defense startup Anduril to pursue the joint development of Korean-style unmanned systems. Anduril’s flagship products include Lattice, an AI-based battlefield operating system; Anvil, a loitering interceptor drone; and Ghost, a vertical-takeoff-and-landing reconnaissance drone. Lattice integrates and controls drones, surveillance equipment and autonomous vehicles deployed on the battlefield in real time, while AI automatically identifies threats and suggests operational responses. The two companies are considering jointly developing unmanned systems based on Anduril’s technologies, licensing the production of some products, and exporting them to markets across the Asia-Pacific region. They are also discussing the possibility of establishing an Asian unmanned-aircraft production base for Anduril in South Korea. Industry observers say Mr. Cho’s decision to deepen ties with companies such as Anduril and Pablo Air reflects the rapid emergence—especially in the U.S.—of a new form of warfare that combines AI, drones and robotics. Securing AI-based autonomous-flight and unmanned-combat technologies is increasingly seen as essential for competing in the global drone and unmanned-aircraft market. The age of AI warfare is arriving as the role of drones and autonomous weapons expands As the line between the aviation industry and the defense sector erodes, analysts say Korean Air is also strengthening AI-based unmanned-system capabilities in preparation for future battlefields. The U.S. military, in particular, is widening the use of AI in operations linked to strikes on Iran, fundamentally chang