The Korean military has decided to buy four Global Hawk unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) as part of building its kill chain system, an arms procurement officer said last Friday.
The kill chain is a pre-emptive missile destruction system and the unmanned aircraft is seen as a core part of the system thanks to its surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities in countering North Korea’s missile or nuclear attacks.
“We have decided to purchase four Global Hawks through a foreign military sale (FMS),“ said an official of the Defence Acquisition Programme Administration (DAPA). “When a letter of offer and acceptance (LOA) comes within this year, an official decision whether to buy it will be made by the Defense Acquisition Programme Executive Committee early next year.”
Should Korea purchase the high-altitude UAS, they will be deployed in 2017. The Global Hawk operates at considerable stand-off distances in all weather and light conditions, and has a payload of 1,360 kilograms. Associated with command and control base stations, the system’s advanced radar will continuously detect and track moving objects throughout observed areas on the Korean Peninsula.
In April, the U.S. Congress approved the sale of the four UAS to South Korea four years after an initial request. However, its higher-than-estimated cost ― 880 billion won quoted by the U.S. as opposed to the 485.4 billion won offered by Korea ― led Seoul to reconsider its plan and bidding process to lower the price with other potential deals on the table, including Boeing’s Phantom Eye and AeroVironment’s Global Observer, both of which failed to meet required operational capability.
Following the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses’ re-evaluation of the estimated budget and budget approval of the finance ministry, the government requested a LOA.
Under the current law, if additional costs exceed 20 percent of the initial budget, the state acquisition agency should conduct an additional review to determine the feasibility of the project.Meanwhile, a lawmaker said that DAPA’s poor handling of the purchase has resulted in it being over budget.
According to Rep. Chung Hee-soo of the Saenuri Party, the overall budget for the project to buy the UAS was estimated at 253.3 billion won in 2007, but is now around 885 billion won. In addition, the delivery timeline was slated for 2011, but a late LOA from the U.S. side has delayed deployment until 2017.
“Multiple changes in the budget for the project and late deployment of UAS are due to DAPA’s lackluster work process because the project has only been tweaked by the U.S. side,” he said.
Source: Korea Times