Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) is embarking on the development of uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to quickly respond to disaster situations such as forest fires and ensure aircraft safety from bird strikes.
A total of 11.5 billion won will be invested from 2025 to 2027 to develop a firefighting-specific heavy-duty UAS, of which 7 billion won will be invested this year alone. The plan is to first introduce drones commercialised overseas and then develop domestic technology based on them. The UAS developed with domestic technology through this project can be deployed in the field after undergoing field verification by relevant ministries and obtaining airframe certification from MOLIT.
In order to prevent bird collision accidents around airports, a bird-response UAS that applies AI-based swarm technology will also be developed. For this, MOLIT will invest a total of 5 billion won from 2025 to 2026. Development will begin this year with a budget of 3 billion won through a public offering.
This UAS will be able to detect birds within 4km of the airport, analyse bird activity patterns, and enable detection, tracking and extermination. It will be capable of multiple group flights. In addition, the drone can be equipped with various mission equipment, and plans are in place to develop an intelligent AI algorithm that combines radar and image recognition technologies to detect and respond to bird risks in advance.
For more information
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Image: Pixabay
