[Reportage] Flying in a Surion, the first Korean utility helicopter, left me speechless

The pilot assumed a triumphant pose, showing that his hand was completely off the lever

The KUH Surion (provided by Korea Aerospace Industries)

At a Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) heliport in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, a helicopter the color of eagle wings with the clearly stamped words "ROK Marine Corps" was whipping up a heavy draft on the afternoon of June 4.

This was the third prototype of the Surion and it was embarking on a test flight with a reporter from the Hankyoreh on board.

The name "Surion" combines "suri" from the Korean word "doksuri," meaning "eagle," and "on," a native Korean word meaning "100." The title is meant to signify a "perfect helicopter."

Hovering, autopilot allow for infiltration and rescue operations in adverse weather

In a briefing room sent up inside a shipping container unit next to the heliport, I listen to information about the trial flight's schedule and course, along with words of caution.

Putting on my safety gear, I board the helicopter to find it completely bare-bones. Interiors aren't put in place for prototype aircraft, and this meant the structure within the helicopter, and the mesh of power and signal control cables inside were left fully exposed. The cockpit and passenger seats were in similarly crude conditions.

The third Surion prototype was created as a prototype for the Marineon, a helicopter that adds Marine amphibious operation support capabilities to the existing Surion. It is designed to seat up to 13 people, including two pilots, two machine gun operators, and nine troops in full combat gear.

A variant of the KUH Surion currently being operated by the Jeju Fire Agency (provided by Korea Aerospace Industries)

The Marineon is currently being used for capability and performance improvement testing. The test flight that day had 10 people on board, including the Hankyoreh team, an employee from the KAI public relations office, an engineer, and the pilots.

"We're about to take off."

Getting the go-ahead from the control tower at a nearby Air Force base, the pilot spoke through a headset. With a touch of the lever, the noise from the wings grew even louder and the helicopter lifted off.

The first phase of the test flight involved hovering over land. I had thought we might go up higher, but the helicopter remained right there in place without moving. The pilot assumed a triumphant pose, showing that his hand was completely off the lever.

"This is auto hover mode," he said.

The pilot moved the level again, and the helicopter rose to a height of 300 meters and began moving out toward the waters of Sacheon Bay. He also demonstrated the autopilot feature, as the helicopter traveled toward a target location based on a route pre-entered with GPS data.

"This allows us to carry out infiltration and rescue operations even at night and in adverse weather, when we don't have a guaranteed field of vision," the pilot said.

"Sacheon Bay down there is the same waters where Admiral Yi Sun-sin first used his turtle ship to drive off Japanese warships during the Imjin War [in the late 16th century]," he added.

"Next to that, you can see the Ocean View golf course. The resort at that golf course is where the actor Bae Yong-joon went on his honeymoon."

It was a bright sunny day, and below us we could see a landscape of islands checkered with bracken fields, along with the bridge connecting between them. Meanwhile, the pilot cheerfully provided a rundown of the last 400 years or so of history.

An enemy anti-aircraft gun base at Sacheon Bay?

A police model of the KUH Surion flies over Dokdo. (provided by Korea Aerospace Industries)

"Oh, there was some intelligence received about an enemy anti-aircraft gun base behind the island you see in front of us. We're now going to do a tactical flight designed to avoid anti-aircraft attacks by the enemy."

No sooner had the pilot finished speaking than the helicopter dove toward the sea, hovering close to the sea's surface as it snuck amid the islands. From there, we continued flying low in the valleys and by the ridges.

Over and over, we passed by one valley or ridge and then slid along the curves of the one opposite. Each time we did, the images visible outside the windows suddenly shifted, like a video taken on a camera that's been flung through the air.

Meanwhile, the passengers broke out into a cold sweat as our stomachs began to lurch. Was this how the Japanese felt when they met the turtle ships during the Imjin War? We went through the same nerve-racking maneuvers three or four times before the tactical flight demonstration finished.

"Is everyone OK? How about that Sacheon Bay scenery?"

The smiling pilot looked back at the passenger as we re-emerged over the sea following our test of the helicopter "making a tactical flight to approach an enemy anti-aircraft gun base and destroy it with a machine gun."

The KUH Surion is being assembled.

"Would you be OK?" I could feel the cross words rising in my throat, but I didn't let them out at the time. I might have screamed them later on, though, if the helicopter had done another tactical flight on its way back.

As we returned to our takeoff site, the pilot demonstrated another auto hover flight over the water rather than another tactical flight. "It's a useful feature for when we're using the helicopter over the sea to rescue stranded people or when the Marines are conducting infiltration operations," he said.

The helicopter landed at the takeoff site, ending a test flight that had lasted for around 30 minutes. As we took off our headsets and disembarked, we looked at each other's faces. The expressions said, "I have a lot to say, but I can't say it right now."

The passengers' faces seemed to be drained of color according to age. I was somewhere in the middle, and my stomach was churning from the tactical flight, with cold sweat dripping over my back and face.

"The tactical flight today was as intense as it would be in an actual military operation," the accompanying KAI PR team leader said.

"Maybe the pilot hates reporters or was unhappy about something," they joked.

Surion: From “luxury item” to “tin can”?

Ahead of the flight, I had read an article in the Hankyoreh from July 18, 2017, titled "Surion devolves from 'luxury item' to 'tin can.'" It shared the results of a Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) audit of improprieties during the Surion's development.

The prototype of the light-armed helicopter being developed by Korea Aerospace Industries (provided by Korea Aerospace Industries)

According to that piece, the Surion was South Korea's first domestically made mobile helicopter, the result of a six-year development process lasting from the Roh Moo-hyun administration (June 2006) until the Lee Myung-bak administration (June 2012) with an investment of 1.295 trillion won (US$1.13 billion). The project's aim was to replace outdated military helicopters while acquiring domestic helicopter development capabilities.

But while the Surion had been billed as a "high-end helicopter," the BAI audit found it to be more of a "tin can." There were incidents of the propellers striking the fuselage, and defects were also found with surfaces freezing during flight in conditions of below-zero temperatures.

But in January 2009, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration went ahead and accepted the Surion's delivery without a test evaluation, leaving the system icing performing testing for later due to the tight project schedule. In 2015 alone, there were three helicopter crashes.

Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye both took test rides on the Surion, lauding its role in "protecting the national territory" and "helping the advancement of the aerospace industry." Their administrations shared florid rhetoric about "brand-name weaponry," an "export driver," and "technological self-sufficiency" as they touted the Surion's development and deployment.

But the Surion's shortcomings and the improprieties by related institutions that came to light in the BAI audit ended up turning the superlatives into an embarrassment.

The Surion crashes had the result of turning up the heat on defense industry corruption. Receiving the BAI's report, current President Moon Jae-in said, "Defense industry corruption is not simply corruption — it is an act that aids the enemy and punches holes in our security."

"Rooting out defense industry corruption is not an issue of 'conservative vs. progressive,' but one of 'patriotic vs. unpatriotic.' We can no longer afford to put off our efforts to clear away these vices," he added.

He went on to order improvements in all areas where improprieties had occurred in the defense industry.

The prototype of the light-armed helicopter being developed by Korea Aerospace Industries (provided by Korea Aerospace Industries)

"Rather than dealing with individual incidents, we need national efforts to connect the results with institutional improvements so that these sorts of things do not happen again," he stressed.

KAI stresses “performance improvements”

Commenting on the darker aspects of the Surion's history, the KAI explained, "The Surion is now in its fourth mass production stage."

"The BAI audit focused on the development process and the first and second mass production stages, but all of those areas have since been improved. We're currently producing and delivering various derivative items for civilian uses as well," it added.

Regarding a deadly Marineon crash during Marine operations in 2018, the KAI said, "That was obviously a human tragedy. It happened because a French component company sent us water-cooled parts and told us they were air-cooled parts."

"Those parts are now guaranteed by the French government, and the KAI has adopted procedures of full-scale testing prior to installation," it said.

A light-armed helicopter fires a missile. (provided by Korea Aerospace Industries)

Over 160 Surion helicopters have been produced to date, including those for supply to the Army and Marines. Some have also been provided for civilian use by the police, coast guard, National Fire Agency, and Korea Forest Service. Efforts are currently underway to fill orders from the South Gyeongsang Fire Department and National 119 emergency services.

In addition to its Surion performance improvements and manufacturing of derivative products — in which the Surion features are altered or added to order — the KAI is also developing a light-armed helicopter and light civil helicopter.

It's also working to domestically produce key components such as gearboxes and power transmission systems and to develop next-generation high-mobility helicopters. It currently plans to take part in an urban air mobility project with the development of a demonstration electric aircraft.

By Kim Jae-seob, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]