Doosan Enerbility is entering into a technology partnership with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) on the development of aircraft engines. The two companies will be cooperating in the following areas in alignment with the Korean government’s mid-to-long term plan for aircraft engine development:

• development of 15,000 lbf engine for unmanned/ manned aerial vehicles;

• development of 10,000 lbf engine for unmanned aerial vehicles; and

• development of 100~500 lbf small-sized engines for multi-purpose unmanned aerial vehicles.

Doosan Enerbility will be taking on the development of the aircraft engines, while KAI will be handling the development of the aircraft systems.

As outlined in the mid-to-long term plan for aircraft engine development, the Korean government will be pursuing the goal of local manufacturing for aircraft engines and as such, will be aiming to secure the technology for developing 10,000 lbf engines for unmanned aerial vehicles and 15,000 lbf engines for aircrafts by the early ‘30s. Aircraft engines are key components that ultimately determine the performance of the aircraft. At present, only a handful of countries, such as the United States, United Kingdom, France and Russia, hold proprietary technology for developing such aircraft engines.

Having Korea’s leading manufacturers of aircrafts and gas turbines team up together under a strategic partnership will have a huge synergic effect on Korea’s aircraft engine development. We aim to successfully apply a phased approach to the local manufacturing of aircraft engines to ultimately enhance the competitiveness of exports in our K-defense industry.

—KAI’s CEO Goo-young Kang

As a participating member of the Agency for Defense Development-led project involving the 10,000 lbf engine development for unmanned aerial vehicles, Doosan Enerbility is currently in charge of “the engine layout design and components analysis,” and “the production and post-processing of turbine vane/ blade castings.” Gas turbines for power plants and aircraft engines share the same underlying technology, and the structure and operating mechanism are similar as well. Depending on its intended use, the difference between the two lies in that gas turbines for power plants usually require high-efficiency and product security, while aircraft engines require high-power and lightness of product.