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By Lee Tae-hoon
Korea is scrapping its plan to purchase the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from the United States due to budget constraints, the head of the country’s arms procurement agency said in a recent interview.
Seoul had sought to introduce four of the U.S.-made high-altitude reconnaissance UAVs and one complete ground control system after Washington decided to phase out its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions in Korea from 2012.
“We cannot buy the drones at the price the United States is offering them,” Noh Dae-lae, commissioner of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), said.
He said DAPA received revised price and availability (P&A) estimates from the Pentagon in November last year for the acquisition of the advanced surveillance system.
“Washington offered to sell the Global Hawk system at $442 million to Seoul in September 2009 when the latter sent a letter of request for P&A data. But in November 2011, it informed us that the price was $899 million,” Noh said. “The price is so high that it is impossible to purchase them or seek National Assembly endorsement.”
DAPA, which had decided to purchase Global Hawks that fly at an altitude of 65,000 feet (19,812 meters) for up to 32 hours in 2003 and deploy them by 2009, has been seeking to purchase a UAV system with a budget of 485.4 billion won ($432.6 million).
If DAPA wants to spend more than 20 percent of the original budget, it is mandated to carry out another feasibility study for the program.
Noh said he will change his agency’s plan to acquire the Global Hawks and allow rival companies to participate in supplying surveillance UAVs.
“So far, Northrop Grumman, the maker of the Global Hawk, has been the only company qualified to negotiate with Seoul,” Noh said. “Now we plan to change our purchase plan to an open bid and allow makers of the Global Observer and Phantom Eye to participate.”
He said recent P&A data for the purchase of the Global Observer shows that the new spy drone falls within Seoul’s budget.
U.S. officials say the U.S. Air Force may also suspend its plan to buy additional Global Hawks due to its soaring costs.
The Phantom Eye is a hydrogen-powered high-altitude long-endurance aircraft, which can fly at an altitude of 65,000 feet for up to 96 hours.
Any of the three UAVs is capable of covering not only the whole of North Korea but also parts of China and other neighboring countries.
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