State-run Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) said Thursday it has signed a 1.7 trillion won (US$1.6 billion) deal to deliver 60 Surion helicopters to the Army by 2017. The contract is the second of its kind signed with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) following the first in 2010 involving 20 helicopters. The first of the choppers that will replace the decades-old fleet of UH-1H and 500MDs entered service this year.