The South Korean Air Force (SKAF) has created a bigger airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) unit to monitor Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile activities.
The new unit plans to introduce two RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles next year under a 2014 contract with the US, with two more to arrive in 2019, Yonhap News Agency reported Friday quoting SKAF sources.
The move is part of South Korea has stepped up efforts to bolster its ISR capabilities, a key precondition for the push to regain the wartime operational control of its troops from the US. The new Air Force wing will be in charge of operating ISR assets.
The SKAF’s aviation intelligence wing is tasked with monitoring North's military activities around the clock in close coordination with the United States ISR assets operating on the peninsula.
It will also collect and analyze information related to the South Korean military's space operation, according to the Air Force.
"Its main mission is the production of information and surveillance to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats," said Col. Kang Yoon-seok, commander of the unit. "(We) will make all-out efforts to detect the indications of the enemy's attack and threat in advance by maintaining 24-hour ISR capabilities."
The new wing has replaces the 37th tactical intelligence squadron, the report said.
US Forces, Korea has officially set up the unit charged with operating the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery deployed in the country. A ceremony was held in the southeastern county of Seongju on Thursday to transfer the Delta Battery of the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade in Fort Bliss, Texas, to the 35th ADA Brigade in South Korea,
The South Korean Air Force will set up an airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) unit in December which will be equipped with two RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Two Global Hawk UAVs are expected to be delivered to the Korean Air Force next year under a 2014 contract with the United States, with two more to arrive in 2019
South Korea will soon begin a full-fledged project worth about 1 trillion won ($880 million) to build indigenous military reconnaissance satellites and put into operation by 2023. The scheme, code-named the "425 Project" to be run by the national arms procurement agency and the state-run Agency for Defense Development, is aimed at developing five military spy satellite system capable of collecting security-related information and intelligence on the Korean Peninsula and in nearby regions, Yonhap reports Friday
The Japanese MoD provided 30 minutes advance public warning about the possibility of a North Korean missile entering the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on July 4. The warning, issued when the missile was still in the air, was announced 12 minutes after Pyongyang launched the intercontinental ballistic missile that later harmlessly splashed down in the Sea of Japan
Seoul has approved a project to upgrade its aircraft identification friend-or-foe (IFF) from the current Mode 4 to Mode 5 at a cost of 2.5 trillion won ($2
South Korea's Army will select soldiers next year to serve in the envisioned "dronebot combat unit," which it describes as a potential game changer in warfare. The Army will create a related military occupational specialty in the coming year
The South Korean navy will retire its benchmark ship, 1500-ton Chungnam frigate. The frigate is one of the first-generation warship
South Korea will start developing bomb disposal robot for military use. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration which signed a 7
South Korea will increase its military budget next year to 43.2 trillion won ($39
South Korea will roll out a light armed helicopter (LAH) late next year with a goal to conduct a test flight in 2019. Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) plans to start the final stage of the LAH's assembly in May next year and roll out the first choppers in November
South Korean Army will set up a combat unit of drones next year to counter North Koreas threats. The drone units will be called ‘dronebot, a combination of the words, ‘drone and ‘robot, Yonhap quoted an unnamed official as saying Tuesday
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