Defense Exports Dünya HABERLER Havacılık & Uzay

South Korea Moves to Approve K30 Biho Export to UAE Despite Ukraine Refusal

South Korea is moving toward approving an export of the K30 Biho short-range air-defence system to the United Arab Emirates, even though similar deals with Ukraine were blocked under the same “country at war” legislation.

According to a 25 May 2026 report by en.defence-ua.com, Seoul is leaning toward greenlighting the UAE’s K30 Biho request. The drive is framed around urgent reinforcement against Iranian-origin Shahed-type one-way attack drones across the Gulf. The article notes the contrast with Ukraine’s case, where Seoul cited domestic law banning arms exports to nations in active conflict — suggesting the policy is being applied selectively.

K30 Biho: 30 mm guns paired with KP-SAM short-range missiles

Open-source data show the K30 Biho is a tracked/half-tracked self-propelled low-altitude air-defence system that entered Republic of Korea Army service in 1999. The platform carries:

Twin 30 mm autocannons with high rate of fire against UAVs, helicopters and low-flying threats
Four KP-SAM short-range air-defence missile launchers
An integrated search radar and a thermal-imaging electro-optical fire-control suite

South Korea fields roughly 167 K30 Biho units; any UAE delivery would likely be drawn from this operational inventory.

An urgent answer to the Gulf drone problem

UAE territory has faced a measurable uptick in one-way attack drone attempts since 2024. Patriot, THAAD and longer-range systems address Iran’s ballistic threat, but low-altitude drone swarms have driven Gulf operators toward short-range gun-missile hybrids — Rheinmetall’s Skyranger, China’s Type 625/730 family, and Türkiye’s KORKUT/HİSAR-A+ combinations all sit in that bracket.

Biho competes head-on in this segment with a combat-proven twin 30 mm cannon + IR-guided short-range missile concept. With “$1 million per Shahed” equations becoming financially unsustainable for high-end SAM systems, hybrid gun-missile launchers are surging in the export market.

Turkish industry perspective

A Biho sale to the UAE directly intersects with Turkish offerings. ASELSAN’s KORKUT twin 35 mm self-propelled system, Roketsan’s HİSAR-A+ short-range SAM, ASELSAN’s SUNGUR man-portable / vehicle-mounted missile and the new GÖKDOĞAN / GÖKKURT family all target the same threat envelope.

KORKUT’s expansion with the GÜRZ turret and counter-swarm fire modes in 2025 positions Türkiye as a direct alternative to Biho across Gulf markets. ASELSAN’s ongoing discussions in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE mean the timing of South Korea’s first delivery batch to Abu Dhabi could shape near-term contract decisions.

Next steps

No specific volume or contract value has been disclosed. South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense and Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) are expected to initiate formal export-approval procedures in the coming weeks.