Korean Air hosts UAV technology forum, bringing together industry, academia and military

Korean Air held the "2026 Korean Air Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology Forum" at Hotel Nongshim in Dongnae-gu, Busan, the company announced Thursday. The event brought together representatives from industry, academia, research institutes, government and the military to share trends in physical AI localization and defense-related developments, and to explore the future direction of next-generation UAV platforms and core technologies.

Now in its third year, the forum runs for two days under the theme "The Future Battlefield Opened by Physical AI." About 300 people attended, including Lim Jin-gyu, head of Korean Air's aerospace business division; Kim Deuk-bong, commander of the Drone Operations Command; Jung Jae-kwon, president of the Korean Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences; and Lee Man-hee, commandant of the Army Air Defense School, along with representatives from academia, overseas UAV manufacturers and domestic partner companies.

The opening ceremony featured keynote speeches and invited lectures on future defense technology trends, covering topics such as "Approaches to Developing Physical AI for the AI Transformation of K-UAVs" and "Counter-Drone Systems and Core Technology Trends."

The first session, titled "Future Battlefield Operating Concepts and Development Directions," featured presentations by the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and KIDA on each branch's force development plans, outlining a blueprint for future military capabilities.

The second session, themed "Physical AI and Next-Generation Platforms," showcased UAV and AI technologies under development at Korean Air. The company highlighted key technological achievements central to future autonomous defense, including the development status of a high-speed multipurpose UAV and an AI pilot system.

The session also featured a presentation on the next-generation autonomous defense platform of Anduril, a US company collaborating with Korean Air, as well as a policy briefing by the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology on physical AI research and development for defense exports, and a technology planning presentation by KAIST on manned-unmanned teaming. A panel discussion among industry, academic, research and government representatives on advancing future defense unmanned systems followed.

On the exhibition floor, physical AI UAV airframes under development by Korean Air were on display alongside demonstration videos. Korean Air showcased an AI pilot demonstration aircraft, an AI aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul solution, and a multipurpose UAV.

The third session, scheduled for Friday under the theme "Next-Generation Advanced Technologies," will feature UAV specialist companies and related agencies — including Pablo Air and Doosan Enerbility — sharing updates on key technology development efforts such as defense unmanned systems serialization and modularization under the K-MOSA framework, swarm autonomy and AI aviation MRO.

Participants are expected to reaffirm their commitment to shared growth in building an advanced K-UAV technology ecosystem, discuss concrete cooperation measures and strengthen mutual networks.

"This forum is a meaningful occasion for industry, academia, research institutes, government and the military to collectively consider how to apply physical AI technology to UAV platforms in a rapidly changing battlefield and industrial environment, and to lay a practical foundation for doing so," a Korean Air official said. "We will continue to contribute to solidifying the K-UAV ecosystem and strengthening advanced unmanned capabilities through active exchanges with all relevant sectors."

Meanwhile, Korean Air is expanding cooperation with global partners to enhance its competitiveness in the aviation industry. On Wednesday, as part of its strategy to enter the Southeast Asian aviation MRO market, the company signed a terms of agreement for comprehensive aviation MRO business cooperation with Thai Aviation Industries, a Thai state-owned aviation maintenance specialist, at the Korean Air Tech Center in Gangseo-gu, Busan.