Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) plans to test its artificial intelligence pilot in the FA-50 light combat aircraft as a step to future unmanned aircraft.
The company’s AI effort is named “K-AI Pilot” and will see it use the FA-50 airframe to explore autonomous flight capabilities by 2026. Following this, the focus will move to “semi-autonomous” formation flying and combat manoeuvring, according to South Korea’s defence ministry, citing a presentation by KAI’s AI research head, Lim Seong-shin.
“The concept of a fighter jet is changing from a single manned platform to a network of sensors and manned-unmanned complex weapons,” says Lim.
“Currently, overwhelming power based on the individual capabilities of high-cost, high-value assets dominate the battlefield, but in the future, overwhelming power based on the combined capabilities of a large number of low-cost, low-value assets will dominate.”
KAI and South Korea have long expressed an interest in using AI for unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs). At the 2023 Seoul ADEX show, KAI and domestic rival Korean Air displayed models of future UCAVs, depicting them as accompanying manned fighters to perform missions.
In January, KAI and a local defence institute embarked on a project to develop AI applications that can be applied to manned and unmanned aircraft.
KAI is also developing a system for manned-unmanned teaming between the KUH-1 Surion helicopter and unmanned air vehicles. Studies have also been made for a similar system that would link the FA-50 light-attack aircraft with “high-performance” unmanned aircraft.
KF-21 COMPLETES 1,000TH TEST SORTIE
The developmental Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KF-21 Boramae fighter has completed its 1,000th test mission during a sortie with the programme’s sixth prototype.
The 1,000th sortie is roughly the halfway point of the jet’s 2,000-sortie flight test campaign, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.
Highlights of the test campaign thus far are air-to-air weapon launches and air-to-air refuelling.
July saw KAI kick off mass production of the KF-21, with the first production aircraft set to enter Republic of Korea Air Force service at the end of 2026.
