The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and Korean Air held a launch ceremony to commemorate the first low-observable unmanned formation (LOWUS, Low Observable Wingman UAV System) technology demonstration aircraft, a core platform for manned and unmanned complex systems, at the Korean Air Tech Center in Busan at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, the 25th. Approximately 300 key figures from the military, industry, academia, and research, including Lee Jeong-seok, Deputy Director of the Agency for Defense Development, Jeong Jae-jun, Director of the Future Power Business Support Division of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, and Lim Jin-gyu, Head of the Aerospace Business Division of Korean Air, attended the event.

The low-observable unmanned system is an unmanned aircraft that autonomously performs reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and attack missions under the supervision of a pilot by forming a complex formation with a manned fighter jet. The Agency for Defense Development and Korean Air began research and development in 2021 as part of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration's Future Challenge Defense Technology Project and plan to complete it by 2027. The goal is to conduct the first flight of a technology demonstration aircraft at the end of this year and enter a manned-unmanned complex flight test in 2027 in which a manned pilot directly controls the unmanned aircraft in the air.

The low-observable unmanned formation has symbolic meaning as the first demonstration case of a domestic manned-unmanned complex aviation system. It is expected that the low-observable unmanned formation will form a complex formation with a manned fighter jet through the system development stage in the future and bring about innovative changes in the field of future aviation operations.

The Agency for Defense Development is developing core technologies such as domestic engines and AESA radars for unmanned formations with the support of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. Park Jun-seong, a senior researcher at the Agency for Defense Development, said, “We plan to respond to changes in the future battlefield by forming a complex combat system between manned and unmanned formations in the future,” and added, “We will do our best to enter the leading ranks in the field of manned and unmanned fighter complex systems, where fierce competition is taking place worldwide, in cooperation with domestic defense companies.”