Seoul ADEX 2025 Officially Opens... Unveiling a Series of New Weapons

The 'Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (Seoul ADEX) 2025' has officially opened at KINTEX in Ilsan.

According to the Seoul ADEX Joint Operations Headquarters on October 20, the Seoul ADEX defense exhibition and related events will be held at the indoor and outdoor exhibition halls of KINTEX in Ilsan until October 24. Seoul ADEX, which began as the Seoul Air Show in 1996 and is held biennially, is considered the world’s third-largest comprehensive aerospace and defense industry exhibition after the Paris and London Air Shows.

This year, Seoul ADEX will see more new weapons unveiled for the first time than ever before. Hanwha Aerospace will showcase the actual Korean Next-Generation Infantry Fighting Vehicle (K-NIFV), which is an improved version of the Redback Infantry Fighting Vehicle that was successfully exported to Australia, customized for operational environments on the Korean Peninsula. The company will also display a 5,500-pound-class turbofan (jet) engine for low-observable unmanned aerial vehicle squadrons, which will have its first prototype completed by the end of this year, as well as the Loitering Precision Guided Weapon (LPGW), which is launched from the Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher and performs surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike missions while loitering over enemy territory.

LIG Nex1 will unveil three types of air-launched munitions to be mounted on the KF-21 Boramae fighter jet for the first time. These include a short-range air-to-air missile, which has previously relied entirely on imports; the Cheonryong, a 1,000-pound-class precision cruise missile that is Korea’s version of the Taurus air-to-ground missile; and a modular 250-pound-class guided missile capable of striking or jamming ships and ground targets. The company will also debut an electronic warfare aircraft, an ultra-high-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite, a vertical takeoff and landing division-level medium unmanned aerial vehicle, and an integrated anti-drone response system equipped with drone identification, detection, and neutralization (shoot-down) equipment on armored vehicles.

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) will present models of next-generation high-speed medium helicopters (tiltrotor, coaxial, and hybrid types) and unveil its Next-Generation Air Combat System (NACS) for the first time. NACS is a next-generation manned-unmanned integrated combat system that simultaneously operates the KF-21 fighter, unmanned combat aerial vehicles, and multipurpose unmanned aerial vehicle squadrons. It also includes a system for the LAH Miroon light armed helicopter to command unmanned aerial vehicles launched either in flight or from the ground, and a system for controlling maritime unmanned combat aerial vehicles or maritime patrol unmanned aerial vehicles from combat ships. KAI will especially showcase a future-oriented battlefield visualization system that utilizes Extended Reality (XR), allowing commanders to conduct operations with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI).

Korean Air will exhibit a stealth unmanned aerial vehicle squadron with AI pilots capable of collaborating with all manned aircraft in hazardous areas. This stealth unmanned squadron is scheduled for a test flight in February next year. Korean Air will also unveil a supersonic multipurpose small cooperative unmanned aerial vehicle capable of working with manned and unmanned fighters, as well as a medium-sized loitering munition that can stay airborne for over 100 hours and strike enemy targets more than 1,000 kilometers away with precision. The medium-sized loitering munition is equipped with satellite communications, eliminating communication range limitations, and with AI, it can autonomously identify, track, and destroy targets. It also has the capability to be launched from the ground or dropped from the air, depending on operational needs.

Poongsan, Korea Defense Industry, Firstec, and others will display surveillance-reconnaissance and loitering munition drones, high-explosive bomb-dropping drones, GPS-guided bombing drones, and small drones launched from vehicles and the air. Major defense companies will also introduce a lineup of drone products developed by their affiliates.

In addition to defense products, new space development products and future advanced air mobility (AAM) will be unveiled for the first time at Seoul ADEX 2025. To achieve this year’s main goal of "raising awareness of the space economy and promoting the space-related industry," the Seoul ADEX Joint Operations Headquarters has set up a new technology pavilion spanning 2,260 square meters to exhibit various new products. The size of the new technology pavilion at Seoul ADEX 2025 is the second largest in the world, following the Space Hub (2,500 square meters) at the Paris Air Show 2025.

At the new technology pavilion, the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology will present a special exhibit of a micro-sintering device that produces concrete bricks from lunar soil (regolith) in space without water. Space (lunar regolith) bricks are essential construction materials for building space bases as humans advance to the Moon and Mars. The cost of sending 1 kilogram of construction materials to the lunar surface is about 1.2 million dollars, so major countries are researching ways to produce lunar regolith bricks directly on the Moon in preparation for space base construction.

The opening ceremony, which began with a performance by the Ministry of National Defense's traditional music troupe, was attended by Defense Minister Shin Kyubeak, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chiefs of Staff of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, vice ministers from various government departments, the heads of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the Korea Aerospace Administration, key government officials, representatives from major defense companies and academia, foreign diplomats in Korea, over 270 Korean participants, and more than 200 foreigners.

Kim Minseok, Executive Vice President of the Korea Aerospace Industries Association, said, "Countries with strong defense capabilities are making every effort to hold air shows to foster advanced defense industries and boost public morale. This directly leads to stronger air power and solid national security." He also emphasized, "Seoul ADEX is both a venue for promoting the excellence of K-Defense to overseas markets and a forward base for the future, inspiring dreams and hope in young people."