K-Defense Small and Medium Enterprises Also Break into Europe

Youngpoong Electronics Signs Licensed Production Contract for Aircraft Black Boxes

At Eurosatory 2024, Europe's largest defense exhibition held for the first time in two years, our small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) signed contracts with major European defense companies amid high interest in K-defense.

On the 18th (local time), at Eurosatory 2024 held at the Paris Nord Villepinte Convention Center, domestic defense company Youngpoong Electronics signed a technology transfer license production contract with German global avionics company Hensoldt. Photo by the Ministry of National Defense Joint Press Corps

Yeongpung Electronics, which participated in Eurosatory, signed a technology transfer and licensed production contract worth over 55 billion KRW on the 18th (local time) with Hensoldt, a global German aerospace company, for an "aircraft black box." Hensoldt transferred the black box technology to Yeongpung Electronics and granted them a license to produce it domestically using that technology. The contract ceremony took place at the Korean SME pavilion in the exhibition hall, attended by Ryu Ha-yeol, CEO of Yeongpung Electronics, Russel Gould, Head of Overseas Business Development at Hensoldt, and Choi Byung-ro, Executive Vice President of the Korea Defense Industry Promotion Association.

Hensoldt is the manufacturer of the world's smallest aircraft black boxes. The black box technology transferred to Yeongpung Electronics is for the product called ‘LCR-100/CVFDR,’ which is installed on rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft as well as Urban Air Mobility (UAM) vehicles. It is one of the products gaining attention recently as many companies strive to lighten aircraft components.

Yeongpung Electronics underwent rigorous evaluation by Hensoldt over the past year to obtain the production license. Through this, they will produce black boxes domestically for approximately 600 fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft operated by our military. Gould, Head of Hensoldt, said, “It is an honor to collaborate with a company that has high-level technology and production capabilities,” adding, “We hope to cooperate in more fields beyond this contract.”

A representative of Yeongpung Electronics said about the contract, “This event proved that the technology developed over a long period by small and medium defense companies, the unsung heroes of K-defense, is now recognized by European defense companies,” adding, “Since it is now possible to supply black boxes for aircraft operated by our military and lay the groundwork for application to civilian aircraft, an effect of over 100 million USD is expected in the future.”