Hanwha Systems teams up with Schiebel to develop aerial communications drone

Hanwha Systems has joined forces with Austrian drone specialist Schiebel to target the global unmanned aerial vehicle export market.

Hanwha Systems said Tuesday it held a kickoff meeting at Schiebel's Korea office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, with senior officials from both companies to launch development of a next-generation aerial communications drone. The aircraft is designed to carry equipment such as 5G base stations to establish tactical communications networks between ground and air and between airborne platforms.

The meeting follows up on a memorandum of understanding the two companies signed in Austria in May to develop aerial communications drones.

The companies plan to combine Schiebel's proven drone platform with Hanwha Systems' high-performance communications and avionics equipment to capture domestic and international UAV communications markets. Schiebel, headquartered in Vienna, supplies drones to more than 40 military and government agencies and civilian customers worldwide, including in Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Canada and the UAE.

Hanwha Systems plans to integrate its domestically developed advanced communications, radar and avionics equipment as standard payloads on Schiebel's proven platform, dramatically expanding opportunities for Korean avionics to enter overseas markets directly and generate reverse exports.

The two companies also plan to extend their existing navy-focused cooperation into advanced research and development for the army. Hanwha Systems has served as the prime contractor since 2023 for naval and Marine Corps ship-based reconnaissance drone programs and northwestern islands drone programs, using Schiebel's rotary-wing S-300 UAV in those projects.

The companies agreed to jointly develop next-generation technology for aerial communications missions during land maneuver warfare. By designing army-variant mission equipment based on already-validated test data, they expect to dramatically cut development time and costs compared with building a new platform from scratch, securing strong price competitiveness in global markets.

Hanwha Systems will focus particularly on acquiring electronic warfare countermeasures and communications survivability technologies — capabilities that have emerged as critical variables on the modern battlefield. The company plans to develop an ultra-compact, lightweight, high-efficiency 5G radio frequency base station module small enough to fit on a mini-drone, an airborne relay communications system, high-reliability navigation technology that maintains an aircraft's position and attitude even under heavy enemy jamming, and a communications survivability optimization solution that keeps networks operational in jamming environments.

"We will further strengthen our long-term cooperation with Schiebel in the rapidly changing global drone market and lead next-generation UAV technology development," a Hanwha Systems official said. "We will simultaneously broaden the path for validating Korean avionics technology, expanding domestic adoption and opening new export channels overseas."