MOSCOW, September 19 (RIA Novosti) – South Korea will become the world’s third most technologically advanced producer of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) by 2023, Korea Aerospace Research Institute stated, Yonhap reported.
“By 2023, South Korea should only trail behind the United States and Israel in terms of technological prowess while ranking as the fourth largest supplier of drones as measured in sales," the director of the institute's future aircraft systems Choi Seong-wook told the agency Thursday.
According to Choi, UAV sales by South Korea will reach $510 million, from $1.65 million in 2013. This growth will coincide with the rise of worldwide UAV sales from more than $5 billion in 2014 to more than $12 billion in 2023. In order to promote the sales, the aircraft system director said Korea should work with countries like Israel, which already has a UAV market.
“The country's prowess in IT will play a part in the growth as well as the development of tilt-rotor capable drones that can hover like helicopters while also flying like fixed-wing planes,” Choi said.
South Korea is currently ranked seventh among the world’s leading countries in the UAV sphere, which include the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Israel, Australia, Japan and Singapore.
