KAI KUH-1 Surion

The KAI KUH-1 Surion is a twin-engine, transport utility helicopter developed primarily by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) jointly with Eurocopter. The Korea Helicopter Project - Korea Utility Helicopter (KHP-KUH) r&d program is to cost about 1.3 trillion won ($1.2 billion), and was launched in 2006 under the Agency for Defense Development. Full-scale production began in 2012 with KAI being the principal builder. Around 245 Surions are on order to replace the aging fleet of UH-1H utility helicopters and 500MD light utility helicopters, which have been in service for decades. South Korea will also build civilian and law enforcement variants of the helicopter.