Park Jung-woo, Head of Aerospace Business Division at Korean Air (fifth from the left), and Charles Davis, Vice President of L3Harris (fourth from the left), along with other company officials, are posing for a commemorative photo. Photo by Korean Air
[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Korean Air announced on the 6th that it will collaborate with the U.S. aerospace company L3Harris to introduce an airborne command and control aircraft for the military.
On the 5th, Korean Air signed a comprehensive business cooperation agreement regarding the airborne command and control aircraft at the L3Harris Korea office in Jung-gu, Seoul, with attendees including Park Jung-woo, Head of Korean Air's Aerospace Business Division, and Davis, Vice President of L3Harris, along with other representatives from both companies.
The airborne command and control aircraft that the military is planning to acquire is also known as an Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft, regarded as a key aerial asset described as a "flying radar and command post." It performs roles such as detecting and analyzing major targets across the entire national territory and commanding and controlling military operations in real-time from the air.
L3Harris is a global company that converts commercial aircraft into airborne command and control aircraft and supplies them to various countries' militaries. They proposed a model equipped with the latest radar from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) mounted on Bombardier's latest model, the Global 6500, to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. Additionally, L3Harris promised a dramatic reduction in price and maintenance costs compared to existing airborne command and control aircraft, as well as full domestic transfer of system integration technology.
Under this cooperation, Korean Air will participate in the entire domestic production process, including modification and mass production of parts for additional airborne command and control aircraft acquired directly by the military through L3Harris, as well as training and manual production for actual operating personnel.
Based on the largest military aircraft maintenance base in the Asia-Pacific region located at the Busan Tech Center, Korean Air has performed overhaul and various performance improvement works on over 6,000 Korean and U.S. military aircraft since 1978.
Korean Air plans to leverage this airborne command and control aircraft business cooperation to acquire the latest system integration technology know-how from global defense companies and expand its application to similar projects in fields such as electronics and electrical engineering in the future.
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