Korea’s Light Armed Helicopter has successfully passed low-temperature testing at Yellowknife in Canada.
The low-temperature testing of the attack helicopter took around nine weeks and started December in 2021 and has been returned to Korea.
The Light Armed Helicopter (LAH), which performed its maiden flight in July 2019 is an advanced light helicopter being developed by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) that is based on the Airbus H155. The Korean Government has ordered up to 200 LAHs.
The LAH’s main mission is to cover air assault units and destroy enemy tanks.
Army Brigadier General Lee Jong-hwa, Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) helicopter division head said, “With the success of this overseas low-temperature flight test, we have crossed the mountain of test and evaluation of small armed helicopters.
Development was started by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) in June 2015, and prototype No. 1 was unveiled in December 2018, about three years and six months after development began, and in December 2020, it was provisionally judged suitable for combat use.
Around 165 items were tested during a total of 40 flights at Yellowknife. This included a cold soak test was conducted, which the aircraft to a cryogenic temperature of -32℃ for 12 hours to check whether the engine is started and various equipment are operating normally.
Follow-up testing and evaluation of the LAH is being conducted in Korea and is expected to be complete at the end of 2022. DAPA then plans to further develop the use of the LAH so it can be used in unmanned systems. Jong-hwa said, “We will also lead the development of an unmanned system called Changer, contributing to improving the survivability of pilots and military personnel.”
