2024-04-28 11:15:40
On the 27th, the US Forces Korea released Korea’s first live-fire training video of the Reaper (MQ-9) unmanned attack aircraft, known as the ‘Sky Assassin’. The Reaper, which is considered the most powerful unmanned attack aircraft in existence, participated in the ROK-US joint formation training (KTF) held from the 12th to the 26th.
A video released by the U.S. Forces Korea on social networking services (SNS) shows Reaper dropping a laser-guided bomb (GBU-12) from the sky over Gangwon Pilsung Shooting Range on the 19th, accurately hitting a building target on the ground. It appears that the high-performance infrared optical sensor mounted on the Reaper filmed the dropped bomb hitting a ground target and the remains of the destroyed target from various altitudes.
Reaper has been deployed to the Korean Peninsula to participate in joint ROK-US exercises after being deployed to the US military base in Japan in October 2022, but this is the first time it has conducted live-fire training.
The Reaper, which is 11m long and has a wingspan of 20m, moves at altitudes of up to about 7km or more, making it difficult for opponents to identify it. It is fully armed with laser-guided bombs and air-to-air missiles and can fly for up to 14 hours or more. Because the state-of-the-art observation and target acquisition system (MTST) can secretly strike targets with precision, the U.S. military authorities have used it in operations to eliminate dangerous individuals, including terrorist leaders. It was also used in the 2020 assassination operation to assassinate Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
A military official emphasized, “North Korea will also keep a close eye on related trends, given that Reaper is mainly used in operations to eliminate (assassinate) the leaders of enemy countries or terrorist organizations.” By releasing the Ripper live-fire training video for the first time, the South Korean and U.S. military authorities sent a warning to the North Korean command, which was blatant about nuclear and missile threats.
Meanwhile, the military deployed the Global Hawk, a high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, into the skies south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) on the 26th and 27th consecutively. Global Hawk, equipped with reconnaissance satellite-level surveillance capabilities, is known to have intensively monitored trends in North Korean missiles and reconnaissance satellite provocations while traveling between the east and west sections of the MDL.
Military reporter Sang-ho Yoon [email protected]
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2024-04-28 11:15:40