GA-ASI and Hanwha Aerospace signed a deal to co-produce the Grey Eagle STOL, following the current cooperation on joint testing in South Korea.
Common Atomics Aeronautical Programs, Inc. (GA-ASI) and South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace have signed an settlement on Oct. 14, 2025, to collectively develop and produce the Grey Eagle Brief Takeoff and Touchdown (GE STOL) unmanned plane system (UAS) in South Korea. The deal marks a big enlargement of U.S.–Korean protection industrial collaboration, which follows the joint testing of the united stateslast yr and a cooperation settlement earlier this yr.
In line with GA-ASI’s press launch, the partnership will see the 2 firms start co-development and co-production instantly, with the primary flight scheduled for 2027 and first deliveries anticipated in 2028. The corporate says the plane might be provided to world clients, together with the U.S. Division of Protection and South Korea’s Ministry of Nationwide Protection, and might be produced by a shared manufacturing effort between the USA and South Korea.
Though the Grey Eagle STOL was examined on the Republic of Korea Navy’s amphibious touchdown ship Dokdo, it’s unclear if the service will undertake it. In line with Breaking Protection, the 2 firms are presently in talks with potential clients.
From Idea to Co-Manufacturing
Beneath the phrases of the settlement, GA-ASI and Hanwha will design and construct a production-representative Grey Eagle STOL. The work will leverage the expertise each firms gained by joint testing actions in 2024. The brand new UAS might be assembled in a newly established facility in South Korea, whereas GA-ASI will retain duty for last system integration at its San Diego plant.
“GA-ASI and Hanwha are dedicated to investing on this venture and constructing improvement and manufacturing capabilities in South Korea. We’ll be leveraging the experience of each firms to shortly carry the Grey Eagle STOL to world clients.“
— David R. Alexander, President of GA-ASI
Hanwha in investing into the enlargement of its UAS enterprise and, along with GA-ASI, will make investments forward of buyer demand. Each firms purpose to scale back threat and decrease lifecycle prices by worldwide cost-sharing, and guarantee well timed supply of next-generation UAS options in Korea and overseas.
“Hanwha Aerospace views unmanned techniques as a strategic pillar for the way forward for protection. By means of our collaboration with GA-ASI, we purpose to strengthen sovereign protection capabilities, develop Korea’s presence within the world UAS market, and contribute to a extra strong ROK-U.S. alliance.”
— Dong Kwan Kim, Vice Chairman of Hanwha Group
Moreover, Hanwha Aerospace CEO Jae-il Son mentioned that co-production is not going to solely create jobs but in addition assist the corporate safe expertise in UAS-related fields. This may in flip assist strengthen South Korea’s home unmanned techniques trade, permitting Hanwha “to change into a complete UAS firm able to executing every part from design to manufacturing and upkeep.”
In line with Breaking Protection, preliminary manufacturing will contain parallel manufacturing in each nations. Particularly, GA-ASI will deal with elements in California and Hanwha will produce components in South Korea.
Runway-Impartial Drone
The Grey Eagle STOL represents an evolution of GA-ASI’s combat-proven Grey Eagle household, designed to function with out the necessity for paved runways. The plane is designed to take off and land from semi-improved or unprepared surfaces equivalent to grime roads, seashores, or open fields. This functionality permits the Grey Eagle STOL to tremendously expands its operational attain in austere or forward-deployed environments.
As GA-ASI explains, this design “maximizes commanders’ choices within the face of evolving mission calls for” by offering runway-independent deployment for reconnaissance, surveillance, and goal acquisition (RSTA) missions, in addition to counter-UAS and manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) operations. The partnership between the 2 firms will allo to ship these capabilities sooner and at decrease prices, additional provides GA-ASI.
The STOL variant builds on GA-ASI’s Mojave demonstrator, which was first unveiled in 2021 and has achieved a sequence of first-of-its-kind milestones. Amongst them are live-fire checks at Yuma Proving Floor (2024), brief takeoff and touchdown trials from unpaved surfaces (2023), and notably, shipborne operations from the ROKS Dokdo amphibious assault ship off South Korea’s coast (2024) and from the Royal Navy’s HMS Prince of Wales plane provider (2023).
As beforehand reported right here at The Aviationist, the Mojave’s capacity to take off in lower than 600 ft and land in below 350 ft provides tactical flexibility unmatched by different medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drones. This functionality permits the dronee to function from ahead areas or small islands, representing a crucial benefit in expeditionary warfare eventualities.
Wanting Forward
The 2 firms are planning for the GE STOL’s first flight in 2027, with preliminary deliveries following in 2028. Curiosity is predicted from the U.S. Military, which has lengthy operated the usual Grey Eagle and is buying newer Grey Eagle 25M, and from South Korea’s armed forces, that are modernizing their reconnaissance and unmanned strike capabilities.
As talked about earlier, whereas no formal orders have but been introduced, GA-ASI indicated that it’s already in discussions with potential clients. Breaking Protection reported that new orders are anticipated “in parallel to standing up the manufacturing strains and constructing the primary manufacturing consultant plane.”
In the meantime, the Grey Eagle STOL will proceed to evolve as GA-ASI integrates classes discovered from Mojave and different UAS demonstrators. The work on the GE STOL will seemingly affect the design of the STOL kits the corporate is creating for the MQ-9.
