Pablo Air披露无人机蜂群与军工/MRO拓展计划，但主体未上市且对大韩航空无可量化订单

Hundreds of drones lift off from the ground simultaneously with a buzzing sound. Once airborne, the drones connect through a network and share information with one another. When a problem occurs with a specific drone, another takes over its role. This is why a single failure does not spread across the entire formation. According to Pablo Air, it is the only domestic drone company to have secured such swarm control technology. Based on this, the company is targeting the defense and aircraft inspection markets beyond drone shows.
Kim Young-jun, chairman of Pablo Air, met with the Seoul Economic Daily at the company's office in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, on the 27th of last month and said, "Thanks to securing drone swarm control technology, we were able to move beyond drone shows into defense and inspection businesses."
Kim first took notice of drones during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. After watching the large-scale drone show presented by Intel at the time, he concluded that it could be sufficiently implemented with domestic technology. After founding the company that same year, he succeeded in 2019 in the swarm flight of 100 drones for the first time using domestic technology. "Following the first domestic drone art show, we were recorded in the Guinness Book of Records for the show that launched the most firework drones," Kim explained. "We showcased firework drones of more than 1,000 units."
Having confirmed the industry's potential through drone shows, Pablo Air is expanding its business areas based on swarm control technology. According to a classification system that Pablo Air established together with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), drone swarm control technology is divided from Level 0 to Level 5 based on the degree of network connection, collaboration, and autonomy.
Level 0 is the stage where one person controls one drone, which applies to leisure drones. Level 1 is the level where one person simultaneously operates 20 or fewer drones. Drone shows, in which thousands of drones fly along pre-programmed routes, correspond to Level 2.
At Level 3, drones fly with roles divided between a drone that serves as a leader and drones that follow its instructions. While communication between drones is possible, there is a limitation in that the entire swarm is affected if a problem occurs with the leader drone. Level 4 addresses this. As the roles of leader and follower change depending on the situation, the drones collaborate autonomously among themselves. Level 5 is the stage where drones perform missions autonomously with minimal human intervention.
Pablo Air currently holds Level 4 drone swarm control technology. It is the only domestic drone company to do so, according to Kim. "Many drone companies talk about swarms, but because there had been no definition for drone swarm control technology, it had been evaluated qualitatively," Kim said. "As a result of defining levels like autonomous driving, Pablo Air did drone shows with Level 1 and 2 technology, and by developing Levels 3 and 4, we came to target the defense market."
Technology that reduces and optimizes the data generated during drone flight is also important. "In the process of drones communicating with each other, a lot of data accumulates," Kim added. "If this is properly reduced, more drones can be operated with the same communication equipment."
The representative product Pablo Air has unveiled targeting the defense market is a suicide drone. According to Kim, while suicide drones from other companies cost hundreds of millions of won, Pablo Air's product costs no more than 10 million won. Considering the security requirements of the defense market, a significant number of components also use products from domestic companies. In particular, the localization rate of the suicide drone 'S10' reaches 70%.
"We formed 'Team Pablo' by gathering 14 component-related companies and are developing major components such as transmissions," Kim said confidently. "In the future, a localization rate of up to 100% will be possible."
The company is developing not only suicide drones but also reconnaissance drones and interceptor drones. "We made it so that a reconnaissance drone can be converted into a suicide drone just by changing the wings," he said. "We are also currently developing a drone that identifies fast-approaching targets with a vision camera and intercepts them."
Pablo Air is proving its product performance by conducting proof of concept (PoC) with domestic and international militaries and defense companies. A representative example is Pablo Air's suicide drone flying at a 45-degree angle and striking a target at the Army Chief of Staff's Cup Drone Piloting Competition in June last year. "The drones currently used by the Korean military attack by flying in at a 20-degree angle, but it is difficult to use these drones in environments such as gorges and valleys," he said. "Pablo Air's suicide drone can attack by flying at a 45-degree angle at a top speed of 150 kilometers per hour."
Since October last year, the company has been discussing with local institutions in Canada a plan to use suicide drones for avalanche prevention. The method involves striking snow-covered areas with drones in advance to remove dangerous accumulated snow.
With Korean Air, Pablo Air is developing an aircraft airframe inspection solution using drones. "What previously took about eight people eight hours to inspect the exterior of an aircraft can be completed by two to three people within an hour using drones and robots," Kim said. "If the drone inspection business with Korean Air succeeds, exports to the overseas aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) market will be possible in the future."
Behind Pablo Air's ability to expand its business from drone shows into defense and aircraft inspection is the securing of production facilities. The company acquired 'Volk,' a precision processing company for defense materials and components, last year and plans to use it as a base for drone mass production. Its drone production target for next year is 100,000 to 150,000 units. The vision is to grow into a company that covers the entire cycle of the drone business, from software and hardware development to mass production.
The investment Pablo Air has attracted so far totals 112.5 billion won. Late this year or early next year, it will retry its initial public offering (IPO). If the listing succeeds, it plans to actively invest the raised funds in startups holding related technologies.
"Since we currently hold various technologies such as communication, security, and safety in addition to swarm technology, our goal going forward is to become a company that comprehensively handles related software and hardware, integrating land, sea, and air," Kim emphasized. "I want to become the Siemens of mobility."