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Korean Air Mid-altitude Unmanned Air Vehicle (MUAV)


Multrirole Drone Aircraft [ 2023 ]



The indigenous Mid-altitude Unmanned Air Vehicle is currently under development for the military forces of South Korea.



Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 04/29/2021 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]
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Development of military capabilities for the nation of South Korea is an ongoing priority with potential enemies seen in both North Korea and China. As such, the country has unveiled a new Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in the form of the Mid-altitude Unmanned Air Vehicle (MUAV) by Korean Air. The project saw a technology demonstrator flown back in 2012 and full-scale development begin in 2013. Development delays have, however, pushed the arrival of this new product into operational service by several years - perhaps 2019 or 2020.

The MUAV sees a conventional design arrangement used: the fuselage, housing pertinent mission and operational equipment, is slender and rounded with a bulbous nose section. At the aft-end of the structure is the engine installation noted by the dorsal intake opening. The engine drives a multi-bladed propeller unit at rear in "pusher" configuration (as in the classic General Atomics "Predator" line). The wing mainplanes are straight in their general shape (with clipped tips) and situated at midships while being low-mounted along the fuselage sides. The tailplanes consist of a pair of outward-cranked vertical surfaces with a sole, downward reaching vertical plane. Along the underside of the fuselage are three blister-type protrusions holding optical sets and sensors - the chin position mounts a ball turret-type unit and ahead of the mainplanes is an oblong fairing, aft of this is a shorter oblong protrusion. The wheeled undercarriage is retractable and consists of a nose leg and a pair of main landing gear legs.

Structurally, what is known of the MUAV is an overall wingspan of 82 feet and a length of 43 feet, making it slightly larger than the General Atomics MQ-9 "Reaper" class UCAV (detailed elsewhere on this site). Endurance is estimated to be around twenty-four hours and a service ceiling of up to 39,000 feet is being reported. Internally, the MUAV is set to carry a Synthetic-Aperture Radar (SAR) in the midships fairing. The chin-mounted turret will manage the Electro-Optical (EO) / InfraRed (IR) camera set.

Due to the presence of four underwing pylons (two per wing underside), the air vehicle has a suspected Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) capability meaning that it has the inherent potential to carry and release guided air-to-surface missiles or precision-guided drop bombs. Up to six of either would be fitted across the four hardpoints - perhaps two on each inboard station and single missiles/bombs on each outboard station.

Sources state that two distinct versions of the MUAV will be made for the South Korean military - one whose mission revolves strictly around Intelligence-Surveillance-Reconnaissance (ISR) and the other will full combat capability. The type could therefore be used to support ongoing ground troop actions by scanning and tracking potential threats and enemy movement. Armed forms will have the ability to attack designated targets. Still more is the potential for the MUAV to be used in humanitarian-minded relief efforts and in border control operations. Of note is that the Republic of Korea Air Force is set to also receive the proven Northrop Grumman RQ-4 "Global Hawks" (Block 30) ISR drones in the near future and will most likely pair the American design with their new indigenous MUAV family.©MilitaryFactory.com
Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

July 2020 - Korean Air is nearing completion of its MUAV development program with serial production of the design to begin soon after.

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Specifications



Service Year
2023

Origin
South Korea national flag graphic
South Korea

Status
IN-DEVELOPMENT
Program in Progress.
Crew
0
UNMANNED
Production
1
UNITS


National flag of South Korea South Korea (probable)
(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)
Ground Attack (Bombing, Strafing)
Ability to conduct aerial bombing of ground targets by way of (but not limited to) guns, bombs, missiles, rockets, and the like.
Intelligence-Surveillance-Reconnaissance (ISR), Scout
Surveil ground targets / target areas to assess environmental threat levels, enemy strength, or enemy movement.
Unmanned Capability
Aircraft inherently designed (or later developed) with an unmanned capability to cover a variety of over-battlefield roles.


Length
42.7 ft
(13.00 m)
Width/Span
82.0 ft
(25.00 m)
MTOW
9,039 lb
(4,100 kg)
(Showcased structural values pertain to the base Korean Air Mid-altitude Unmanned Air Vehicle (MUAV) production variant)
Installed: 1 x Conventional engine driving a three-bladed propeller in pusher configuration.
Ceiling
39,009 ft
(11,890 m | 7 mi)
(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base Korean Air Mid-altitude Unmanned Air Vehicle (MUAV) production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)
Typically sensors and camera fits but speculation is that a combat capability is being worked in from the start. Presumed munitions would be air-to-surface missiles as well as precision-guided drop bombs.


Supported Types


Graphical image of an aircraft air-to-surface missile
Graphical image of an aircraft conventional drop bomb munition
Graphical image of an aircraft guided bomb munition


(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)
Hardpoint Mountings: 2


Mid-altitude Unmanned Air Vehicle (MUAV) - Base Series Name.


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Images Gallery



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Image of the Korean Air Mid-altitude Unmanned Air Vehicle (MUAV)
Image credit to Hwangbo Junmoo.


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