The Republic of Korea will retire the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters in its inventory. 103 Black Hawks, which have been operational for nearly 20 years, were planned to go through the modernization process, but the country's arms supply agency said it could replace the UH-60s already in use with the KUH-1 Surion helicopters developed by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI).

According to a feasibility study conducted by the Korea Institute for Defence Analysis on general purpose helicopters, uh-60 modernization plans were abruptly cancelled in May last year, and defence officials chose additional production of Surion helicopters instead. According to the study, Surion helicopters, which are approximately five times higher than the financial value for uh-60 modernization, will be worth USD 2.9 billion.

Helicopter Body from Turkey

Turkey's Coşkunöz Defence and Aerospace company produces the mid-body of the dual-engine KUH-1 Surion utility helicopter developed by KAI. The company delivered the first medium body of helicopters in 2017.

It was announced thatCoşkunöz  company will produce a total of 60 medium bodies for 10 years.