Betting on Survivable UAVs in the 'Counter-Drone Era'... LB Investment, KDB and Mirae Asset Invest 13 Billion Won [fn Market Watch]

[Financial News] LB Investment and others participated in a Series A investment worth a total of 13 billion won in AD System, a defense-industry UAV specialist.
According to investment banking (IB) industry sources on the 22nd, LB Investment, Korea Development Bank (KDB), JB Investment, Smilegate Investment, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Mirae Asset Capital, Flux Ventures and Innopolis Partners invested in AD System.
Established in 2019, AD System is a portfolio company of its early investor JB Ventures and an innovative company from Industrial Bank of Korea's startup incubation platform, IBK Changgong. Based at its headquarters in Cheonan and its production plant and corporate-affiliated research institute in Hwaseong, AD System has brought the entire UAV development cycle in-house, from design and composite-material molding to avionics and systems integration. Its main products are vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) fixed-wing platforms and training multirotors.
AD System's core technology is the development of UAVs designed to enhance battlefield survivability against counter-drone (C-UAS) systems. Through core technologies such as low-observable (stealth) design and materials, VIO/SLAM-based GPS-denied anti-jamming navigation, and terminal-phase evasive flight, the company aims to secure the survivability needed to complete missions on battlefields where jamming, detection and interception are commonplace. Its key technologies have been validated through testing by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD).
Using this investment as a springboard, AD System plans to develop 'cost-effective UAVs' that implement these survivability technologies at reasonable prices and establish a mass-production system. The company will expand its large-scale production facilities and automated equipment, and plans to complete development of its independently developed next-generation UAV platform, AD-4000, by 2027.
Kim Jeong-ho, CEO of AD System, said, "Survivability—the ability to break through and survive the enemy's counter-drone systems—is essential in modern warfare, but UAVs that are so expensive that only a few can be deployed are not the answer. The goal of this investment is to secure the unit price and mass-production capabilities needed to supply sufficient quantities while also obtaining low-observable and anti-jamming technologies."
[email protected] Kang Gu-gwi Reporter