Australian Urea Solution Emergency Airlift Military Transport Plane Departs Today at 7 AM

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] A military transport aircraft carrying emergency supply of urea solution will depart for Australia on the afternoon of the 10th local time.

According to military officials, one of the Air Force's multipurpose aerial refueling transport aircraft, the 'Cygnus' (KC-330), is expected to take off from Gimhae Airport around 7:30 PM that day.

Originally, the military transport aircraft was scheduled to take off at 5 PM, but the time was somewhat delayed due to procedures such as airspace passage coordination and quarantine measures. The final takeoff time is currently being adjusted. If the military transport aircraft departs around 7 PM today, it is expected to carry 27,000 liters (ℓ) of urea solution and arrive in Korea as early as the 11th.

Some skepticism has arisen regarding the effectiveness of deploying the military transport aircraft, given the relatively small volume of Australian urea solution. The deployment is a government measure to urgently import 27,000 liters of urea solution from Australia to alleviate the shortage caused by the China-origin supply disruption, which accounts for only about 3 to 4% of daily usage.

Meanwhile, the Cygnus is a multipurpose transport aircraft that performs missions such as refueling fighter jets, transporting citizens during overseas disasters and emergencies, transporting cargo and personnel for overseas deployed units, and supporting international peacekeeping activities. The Air Force introduced the first KC-330 in 2019 and currently operates four units.

The Cygnus has been deployed in various missions including the repatriation of Korean War fallen soldiers' remains excavated from North Korea and transferred to Hawaii, the repatriation of General Hong Beom-do's remains, vaccine transportation, and early return missions for Cheonghae Unit members. In August, it also successfully carried out the 'Miracle' operation, safely transporting Afghan collaborators who had assisted Korea back to the country.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.