Role & capabilities
- Collaborative-aircraft development
- Onboard autonomy research
- Crewed–uncrewed integration concept
- Primary domain
- Air
- System type
- Collaborative aircraft
- Developer / manufacturer
- Korean Air Aerospace
- Origin / production countries
- South Korea
- Other names
- No additional names recorded
- Variants / configurations
- Not distinguished in reviewed sources
- Operators / programme customers
- Not identified in reviewed sources
Evidence & current status
Development and mock-up evidence only; no production or military acceptance inferred.
KUS-FX is Korean Air's compact collaborative combat-aircraft project. The company introduced a full-size mock-up at ADEX 2025, and a 2026 developer interview continued to describe the system as work in progress. These are useful programme milestones, but the mock-up display is not a first flight or a production handover.
The concept combines a relatively small airframe with onboard autonomy and cooperation with other aircraft. Korean Air's discussion places it within a wider portfolio that includes LOWUS and separate loitering-munition projects. Shared autonomy research does not make those programmes identical aircraft, and their performance figures should not be transferred to KUS-FX.
The public evidence supports the name, intended collaborative role and approximate size. It does not establish validated endurance, range, payload or service numbers. The company's expectation of later production remains prospective until backed by a contract or acceptance statement. This profile therefore records an active development with a documented exhibition configuration, while preserving the distinction between a physical mock-up, a flying prototype and an operational system.
Sourced specifications
Figures apply to the named configuration. Maximum values are not guaranteed operating performance.
| Specification | Reported value | Context & source |
|---|---|---|
| Airframe | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Launch / recovery | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Propulsion | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Dimensions | Approximately 4 m length | Developer description of the development design. Source |
| Mass | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Endurance | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Range | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Speed | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Altitude | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Payload | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Sensors | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
| Communications / navigation | Not established in the reviewed public sources. | Public evidence gap. No estimate or neighbouring variant value has been substituted. Source |
Documented milestones
ADEX programme presentation
Korean Air announced a full-size KUS-FX mock-up; this was not reported as a flight milestone.
Read the announcement
Publication history
- — Published reference update.
Suggest a correction to this entry
Follow the evidence
Source types identify who makes the claim. Programme milestones and supplier statements should be read in context.
- Korean Air ADEX announcement, 20 October 2025 (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme
- Korean Air developer interview, July 2026 (opens in a new tab)Manufacturer / programme