Israeli defence company to help build drones for South Korea

Hankuk Carbon

17/10/2017 11:19

JERUSALEM, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Israel's largest defence 
contractor is helping to build drones for South Korea's 
military, which is in a perpetual standoff with neighbouring 
North Korea, and also for the country's civilian market, the 
company said on Tuesday. 
    State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)  ISRAI.UL  
said it partnered with Kankuk Carbon  017960.KS , a South Korean 
company specializing in composite material, to develop a new 
generation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). 
    The joint venture, called Korea Aviation Technologies, is 
first planning to manufacture a vertical-takeoff-and-landing UAV 
with a maximum takeoff weight of 300 to 450 kg (660 to 990 
pounds), but it may branch into other models as well, IAI said. 
    Tension on the Korean peninsula has risen in recent weeks as 
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump 
exchanged threats and insults over the North's development of 
missiles and nuclear weapons.+ 
    IAI is Israel's top-selling defence group, and its 
satellite, weapons and drones systems are used in many countries 
around the world. 
 
 (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch, editing by Larry King) 
 ((ari.rabinovitch@thomsonreuters.com;  +972-2-632-2202; Reuters 
Messaging: ari.rabinovitch@thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: IL AEROSPACE IND HANKUK CARBON/DRONES