Hunid, Officially Entering the Military Drone Market

Defense company Hunid Technologies (hereinafter Hunid) has officially entered the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market.

On the 2nd, Hunid announced that it signed an industry-academia consortium agreement on the 1st. The consortium includes Hunid, Duksan Nepcore Co., Ltd., SIA Co., Ltd., Korea Fiber Co., Ltd., which are major domestic material, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang) companies in the military UAV industry, and Jeonju University, a leading research institution. The consortium aims to form a cooperative body targeting entry into the global UAV industry market and plans to establish and promote joint business development strategies through mutual cooperation.

There is a prevailing outlook that future warfare environments will be dominated by drone warfare utilizing UAVs. UAV systems, which minimize human casualties and are relatively free from exposure to the risk of being shot down, are expected to become game changers that can determine the outcome of future wars.

South Korea is generally considered to be at a disadvantage compared to leading countries in the UAV market such as T?rkiye, China, the United States, and Israel. In fact, the division-level UAVs that have been operational in the South Korean military since 2018 took over ten years to develop. The corps-level UAV-II development project, a successor model to the Songgolmae UAV, has yet to be operational even after more than ten years.

The industry-academia consortium plans to expand the domestic military UAV market base through cooperation with global military UAV manufacturers. Based on advanced SoBuJang development and manufacturing capabilities, it aims to pioneer the global market.

Kim Wang-kyung, CEO of Hunid, stated, "The industry-academia consortium aims to domesticize UAV systems verified in the global market and develop them into core forces of our military." He added, "Through the synergistic effects of leading domestic UAV SoBuJang companies and research institutions, we expect to enhance export competitiveness not only in the domestic market but also in the global market."