U.S. Congress approves sale of Global Hawks to S. Korea

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

U.S. Congress approves sale of Global Hawks to S. Korea

By Kim Eun-jung / 2013/05/02

SEOUL, May 2 (Yonhap) -- The United States has approved the sale of four Global Hawk spy drones to South Korea eight years after its request, Seoul's acquisition agency said Thursday, but the procurement may be reconsidered due to a higher-than- expected price.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said it has received the letter of offer and acceptance for Global Hawks made by Northrop Grumman Corp. from the Pentagon in mid-April after it won congressional approval.

Although the proposed price for four drones hasn't been made public, it reportedly well exceeds the 480 billion won (US$435 million) initially set by the Seoul government, according to multiple sources.

According to a report released by the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency in December, the four drones were valued at US$1.2 billion.

While the DAPA had planned to purchase the Global Hawks through a government-to-government deal, it is considering a competitive bidding to negotiate a better offer for the high-altitude drones along with other potential deals on the table.

Under the current law, if additional cost exceeds 20 percent of the initial budget, the state acquisition agency should conduct an additional review to determine the feasibility of the project.

"We are currently reviewing whether to pick Global Hawk or open a competitive bid," a DAPA official said, asking for anonymity.

Boeing's Phantom Eye and AeroVironment Inc.'s Global Observer had been considered as potential bidders, but they failed to meet the South Korean military's required operational capability, according to military officials.

Seoul has shown interest in the high-altitude, long-endurance Global Hawk drones to conduct intelligence missions on North Korea since 2005 as it is preparing to take over wartime operational control from Washington at the end of 2015.

Global Hawk drones, akin to Lockheed Martin's U-2 spy planes, may be optimized to scan large areas for stationary and moving targets during both the day and night, providing high resolution images.

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