Seoul, South Korea
—
The US Air Force is placing a permanent drone presence on the Korean Peninsula, reviving a World War II-era squadron to bolster safety amid simmering navy tensions in the area.
The 431st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron was activated on Monday at Kunsan Air Base on South Korea’s west coast, south of the capital Seoul. It will fly MQ-9 Reaper drones from the set up.
It’s one other transfer in direction of strengthening the US navy’s air capabilities on the peninsula, after it repositioned F-16 fighter jets nearer to North Korea in current months. It additionally comes simply weeks after North Korea’s chief Kim Jong Un stood shoulder to shoulder with China’s chief Xi Jinping at a large military parade in Beijing.
The Reapers are unmanned single-engine turboprops that may carry out quite a lot of fight and different missions, in accordance to an Air Force truth sheet.
With an prolonged vary of greater than 1,600 miles (2,575 kilometers) and the power to keep airborne indefinitely with aerial refueling, the Reapers will present a considerable increase to US forces in the area.
The vary of the Reapers covers not solely North Korea – the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea is about 150 miles north of Kunsan – but in addition the East China Sea and Taiwan, about 800 miles away.
The Chinese mainland is simply about 250 miles from Kunsan, and the Bohai Sea, the place the Chinese navy typically holds workouts, is about 600 miles from the US air base.
“MQ-9 operations will support US-Korean priorities in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance across the Indo-Pacific theater,” an Air Force assertion stated. The navy area stretches from the waters off the west coast of the US to the western border of India, and from Antarctica to the North Pole.
“Deploying the MQ-9 brings a powerful capability to the region,” Lt. Col. Douglas Slater, who will command the squadron, stated in an announcement.
“We’re here to support the mission, deepen cooperation and demonstrate our shared commitment to maintaining security and stability across the Indo-Pacific,” Slater stated.
For fight missions, the MQ-9s can carry a spread of weapons, from Hellfire missiles to laser-guided bombs.
Permanently stationing the Reapers at Kunsan reveals Washington’s dedication to South Korea and its different Pacific allies and companions at a time when some have raised doubts about that because the Trump administration appears to be like at safety challenges nearer to residence.
It was not introduced what number of Reapers can be based mostly at Kunsan, however an Air Force truth sheet reveals 50 in the stock of US Special Operations Command as of January.
Labeling the drone unit because the 431st squadron revives a reputation that traces again to World War II, when it was activated in 1943 because the 431st Fighter Squadron in Australia, flying long-range P-38 Lightning fighters as escorts for US bombers in the Pacific theater.
The 431st was final lively as a check squadron for F-111 plane in California, shutting down in 1992.
Activating the squadron in South Korea is the Air Force’s second huge transfer of the yr on the peninsula.
In July, the service began shifting F-16 fighter jets from Kunsan simply over 80 miles to the north to Osan Air Base, to kind what it calls a “super squadron” nearer to North Korea.
A complete of 31 F-16s and 1,000 personnel have been to be moved from Kunsan to Osan by October, the Air Force stated in an announcement in July.
The non permanent switch is anticipated to final via October of subsequent yr to see if it could actually “maximize capabilities and increase combat effectiveness on the Korean Peninsula,” an Air Force assertion stated.