South Korean Surion Helicopter To Undergo Formal Tests Again

The Surion chopper, developed by South Korea's sole aircraft-maker Korea Aerospace Industries, will be undergoing anti-icing system tests again after country’s audit agency deemed KUH-1 helicopter to be unfit for flight missions.

The nation's arms agency Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Thursday that it's preparing for a test on Surion's anti-icing system in the United States.

The state-run audit body Board of Audit and Inspection had inspected recently that the nation’s indigenous KUH-1 Surion helicopter lacks lightening protection and anti-icing capability. It even has an engine leakage and malfunctions in its fuselage and windshield.

"The follow-up test plan has been set. There will a test on the 29 requirements between December this year and March next year," a DAPA official was quoted as saying by Yonhap in a background briefing to the reporters.

He pointed out the peculiarity of an anti-icing qualification test of a new aircraft that requires certain weather conditions.

"Even in case of major foreign planes, it takes two to five years to prove their anti-icing capability after the completion of the development," the official said.

The multi-role Surion chopper was produced as part of a 1.3 trillion won military procurement project. Since its first flight test in 2010, the indigenous aircraft has been adapted for military purposes as well as other non-military missions for the police and the firefighters.

South Korea's Army operates more than 60 Surion choppers mainly for carrying troops and equipment.