Korea begins long-awaited production of Reaper combat drones

South Korea began production of its version of the U.S. hunter-killer MQ-9 Reaper drone to enhance its defense surveillance capabilities against North Korea, ending the 18 years of delay, announced its defense procurement agency...

A prototype of South Korea's own version of the U.S. combat drone MQ-9 Reaper, the Medium-Altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (MUAV). [YONHAP]

South Korea began production of its version of the U.S. hunter-killer MQ-9 Reaper drone to enhance its defense surveillance capabilities against North Korea, ending the 18 years of delay, announced its defense procurement agency.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) made the announcement on Thursday after relevant organizations, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Agency for Defense Development, met to discuss the production schedule.

It added that the unmanned aerial vehicles will be sequentially delivered to the Air Force.

The Medium-Altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (MUAV) is Korea’s version of the U.S. combat drone MQ-9 Reaper. Discussions for its mass production have been underway for some 18 years, but the decision to start producing the vehicles was pushed back several times due to malfunctions of some critical parts.

The MUAV, which is 13 meters (42.6 feet) long and 26 meters wide, can acquire high-resolution images of a target point 100 kilometers (62.1 miles) away while flying at an altitude of 6 kilometers to 13 kilometers.

The unmanned aerial vehicle can be used for surveillance, reconnaissance and offensive operations.

The MUAV will be equipped with weapons such as the Cheongeom, domestically produced anti-tank missiles.

The vehicle is also expected to exceed the capacity of the American MQ-9 Reaper in some ways.

Its 1,200-horsepower turboprop engine exceeds that of the Reaper's 900-horsepower engine, and the MUAV’s operation time is 24 hours, longer than the Reaper's 14 hours. This means the MUAV can carry heavier armaments than the Reaper and operate in the air longer.

The United States deployed the MQ-9 Reaper in operations to kill Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the extremist terrorist group ISIS in 2018 and the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, Qassem Soleimani, in January 2020.

South Korea's path to producing the MUAV has been rocky.

Initial discussions occurred in 2006 during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, and development began in 2008. However, the project was dropped temporarily after the government signed a deal in 2011 to adopt the Global Hawk, a high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, from the United States.

The Korean government then announced the MUAVs would be completed by October 2017, only to postpone it to December 2018, citing problems in the data link transmissions.

Other issues concerning different parts of the vehicle continued to disrupt the development plan until March 2022, when the MUAV was announced to have met all the relevant defense equipment standards.

In December last year, DAPA signed a mass production contract with three companies — Korean Air, LIG Nex1, and Hanwha Systems — for a total investment of 980 billion won ($733.4 million).

“Through further modifications and development, the MUAVs are expected to be used in various fields in Korea, including in coast guard and firefighting activities,” a DAPA official told the JoongAng Ilbo. “We hope the production will also add to our list of K-defense exports.”

BY LEE KEUN-PYUNG, ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]