South Korean Surion Helicopters to Face Icing Test in Michigan from December to March Next Year

South Korea’s Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) will put the KUH-1 Surion helicopter to another icing test in Michigan from December to March as it seeks to export the helicopter to countries with sub-zero weather conditions.

The helicopters were suspended after the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea (BAI) released a report in July saying that engine parts of the Surion ice up at minus 30 degrees Celsius and could cause serious safety problems. Icing can allow a chopper to lose lift and crash, Yonhap reported Friday.

The company will persuade the authorities to allow it to resume deliveries of the rotorcraft by the end of November or late December at the latest, KAI President and Chief Executive Kim Jo-won was quoted as saying during a press meeting.

The Surion helicopters will have no safety problems due to the icing issue if they are deployed domestically. In Korea, the temperature does not fall below minus 30 degrees Celsius during the winter season, Kim said.

Deployment of the Surion helicopters to the Korean military forces began in 2013 and the process has yet to be completed. The icing issue emerged during the helicopter's winter testing in the United States between October 2015 and March 2016.