SEOUL, March 11 (Yonhap) — The South Korean and U.S. militaries are considering deploying a high-powered surveillance plane to bolster their watch over North Korea during the second Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul later this month, a senior military source said Sunday.
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The March 26-27 summit will bring together U.S. President Barack Obama and dozens of world leaders amid increased hostile rhetoric from North Korea. Pyongyang has branded the gathering as an “intolerable grave provocation” against it.
“We’re in talks with the U.S. about increasing surveillance capabilities during the Nuclear Security Summit,” the South Korean source said, adding that they are considering adding the U.S. military’s “J-STAR” surveillance aircraft to their anti-North Korea surveillance line-up.
The U.S. firm Northrop Grumman’s “J-STAR” or Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System tracks ground vehicles and some aircraft, collects imagery, and relays tactical pictures to ground and air theater commanders. If mobilized for the summit, it will be used to track movements of surface-to-surface missiles, artillery and troop movements in the North.
The plane, which is 44.2 meters wide, 46.6 meters long and 12.9 meters high, proved its capabilities during the 1991 Gulf War. It can stay in the air for 11 hours in one flight and its cruise speed is Mach 0.8.
The aircraft was used in joint military exercises South Korea and the U.S. held near the western sea border with North Korea in a show of force after the North’s artillery attack on a South Korean border island in 2010.
The U.S. military also plans to increase its anti-terrorism capabilities during the Nuclear Security Summit, the source said.
