The medevac  variant of KAI’s Surion helicopter made its maiden flight on Jan. 22. The rotor-craft was airborne for 20 minutes during the flight at Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province.

The medevac Surion will have special communications systems to allow the crew to keep in constant touch with doctors on the ground. In addition, the helicopter will carry a respirator, vital signs monitor, surgical facilities, and an external defibrillator. It will also have a hoist.

The South Korean army now uses the Sikorsky UH-60 in the medevac role. Flightglobal’s Ascend fleets database shows that Seoul operates three UH-60Ls and 65 UH-60Ps.

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.