Pentagon to sell spy drones for $1.2bln to South Korea

Dec 26, 2012 Spacewar.com(Voice of Russia)

Moscow - The Pentagon is going to sell four of the Block 30 versions of the Global Hawk high-altitude spy drones to South Korea, of which the US Department of Defense has informed Congress recently.

The deal between the Pentagon and Seoul, which is estimated to worth $1.2 billion, will be implemented under the Foreign Military Sales program and in line with the transition of intelligence gathering mission from the US-led Combined Forces Command to South Korea's own troops in 2015.

The deal would also include "associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support".

The drones are equipped with radars and optical sensors capable to survey landscapes through clouds while flying up to 20km high.

The Block 30 model is not a new model, earlier in January the US Air Force announced in January it wanted to retire its fleet in 2013 and instead buy more advanced Block 40s.

Congress may block the deal, but according to the Korean news agency Yonhap they are much likely to support the deal.

Source: Voice of Russia