KAI KUH-1 Surion

what is it?

The KAI KUH-1 Surion is a twin-engine, transport utility helicopter developed primarily by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) jointly with Eurocopter. In 2006, the research and development phase of the Korea Helicopter Project - Korea Utility Helicopter (KHP-KUH), costing around ₩1.3 trillion (equivalent to ₩1.99 trillion or US$1.49 billion in 2025), was launched by the Agency for Defense Development. In 2012, full-scale production of the Surion began.

base stats

• speed 270 km/htop speed
• range 828 kmwithout refuelling
• seats 13passengers
• size 8,709 kgmax take-off weight
• built 218made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 16 years ago, in 2010.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).

turboshaft: A turbine that turns a shaft, usually a helicopter rotor.

spec sheet

first flight

2010-03-10

introduced

2013

status

still flying

number built

218

role

medium utility helicopter

origin

🇰🇷 South Korea

makers

Korea Aerospace Industries

engines

2× General Electric / Hanwha Aerospace T700-701K / General Electric T700

crew

2

passengers

13

length

19 m

height

5 m

max take-off weight

8,709 kg

top speed

270 km/h

range

828 km

ceiling

4,595 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.