Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1) and Korean composite manufacturer have signed an agreement to jointly develop, manufacture, and market Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs). They are establishing a joint venture for this purpose. IAI and Hankuk Carbon are also considering adding ship borne take-off and landing capability to the FE-Panther. This would be done by the joint venture before end of 2018. The companies assume, based on Teal Group forecasts, that the potential market for the VTOL Naval UAVs is around $4.3billion for the next 10 years from 2015 to 2024.
IAI EVP Shaul Shahar said,, said that "We see the upcoming joint venture as a great opportunity for both companies to expand their business. We are looking forward to working with Hankuk Carbon- a well-established Korean company, which has decided to enter into the aerospace business. With Hankuk Carbon's composite material production capability and with IAI's 40-years' of experience and know-how of UAV's, the joint venture has the potential to become a leading VTOL UAV company, and to provide the best solution to our customers in Korea and worldwide."
In October 2015, Hankuk Carbon displayed its 67 kilogram-Hybrid VTOL UAV, FE-Panther for the first time. The UAV powered by lithium polymer batteries and a gasoline engine can fly for 8 hours with a 6k kilogram of payload and can fly a maximum range of 130 kilometers and maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour. The automatic VTOL is also easy to maintain.
Hankuk Carbon and IAI have previously co-developed the hybrid propulsion system for the VTOL UAV funded by the KORIL Foundation (Korea-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation).
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 7, 2016
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