The developmental attack variant of the Korea Aerospace Industries KUH-1 Surion has conducted its maiden sortie.
The helicopter is designated Marine Corps amphibious assault helicopter (MAH) and is closely related to the MUH-1 Marineon in service with he country’s marines.
According to Seoul’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the MAH had its maiden sortie in December 2024, and three prototypes have been completed. The first flight followed ground testing in October 2024.
Development of the MAH is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026.
The MAH incorporates several new features, including a chin-mounted rotary cannon and winglets with three hardpoints high on each side of the fuselage. The rotorcraft’s side doors are half the width as those on the MUH-1 – which are necessarily large for troops to enter and exit.
While a window is retained on each side door, the MAH lacks the MUH-1’s rear window. The stub wings replace the two slit windows located aft of the MUH-1’s cockpit.
Unlike conceptual renderings previously issued by KAI, the MAH’s stub wings are mounted high on the fuselage, likely to ease the loading of weapons. Early concepts had indicated that the stub wings would be mounted halfway down the fuselage.
The MAH’s hardpoints were empty during a test flight video posted by DAPA. Previous conceptual imagery of the rotorcraft indicates that armament will include rocket pods, ground attack missiles, and small air-to-air missiles.
In October 2022 KAI laned a W440 billion ($302 million) contract from DAPA to develop the MAH, which incorporates the armament system of the Mirion Light Armed Helicopter, which has started to enter service with South Korea’s army.
The MAH will enter service in the late 2020s with 20 examples to be acquired. The MAH will eventually join the MUH-1 on the flightdecks of South Korea’s two Dokdo-class amphibious assault ships, ROKS Dokdo and ROKS Marado.
DAPA has said that basing the MAH on the MUH-1 will simplify logistics and training.
Prior to Seoul’s decision to develop the MAH, media reports in Sough Korea suggested that the marines preferred a design specifically tailored to the attack mission, as opposed to converting a large, heavy transport to serve the attack role.
Bell had aggressively pitched the AH-1Z Zulu for the marine attack requirement.
