UAV - Global Hawk for Slør-Korea

Global Hawks To Increase Seoul’s Agility Against North

By Bradley Perrett

Source: Aviation Week & Space Technology

November 11, 2013
Credit: USAF

Although South Korea has been seeking Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawks for eight years, the unmanned surveillance aircraft is now becoming all the more crucial to its strategy of dealing with the threat from Pyongyang. North Korean attacks on the south in 2010, combined with the mounting nuclear danger, have led Seoul to seek an ability to stop strikes before they are launched. The Global Hawk is now seen as a primary sensor for cueing a preemptive attack.
Four RQ-4 Block 30s should be delivered to South Korea in 2017-19; the dates are uncertain. A contract from the U.S. government is likely in 2014, following an intergovernmental agreement by the end of this year, say Northrop Grumman officials, although the South Korean defense ministry expects the intergovernmental contract in the first half of next year. Under the Foreign Military Sales process, which is compulsory for the RQ-4, the U.S. government will supply the aircraft