[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] The Baekdu Reconnaissance Aircraft Developed by KAI

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI) has signed a system development contract for the ‘Baekdu System Capability Enhancement Phase 2 Project’ and has officially embarked on domestic development.

According to KAI on the 17th, approximately 800 billion KRW will be invested to replace the aging existing Baekdu reconnaissance aircraft with four new Baekdu reconnaissance aircraft by the end of 2026.

The South Korean military currently possesses a total of six Baekdu reconnaissance aircraft. Four were introduced in the 1990s, and two new Baekdu reconnaissance aircraft were deployed last year, making a total of six. The name ‘Baekdu’ was given because the detection range extends as far as Baekdu Mountain.

The Baekdu reconnaissance aircraft is an intelligence asset capable of capturing North Korea’s electronic intelligence (Elint) and communications intelligence (Comint). Electronic and communications intelligence is obtained through wiretapping or eavesdropping to learn about equipment operations such as radar activation and the content of wired and wireless communications. Additionally, the domestic defense companies LIG Nex1 and Hanwha Thales have added a foreign instrumentation signals intelligence (Fisint) function. The Fisint function detects signal exchanges between electronic devices even if there is no movement at North Korean military communications, nuclear facilities, or missile bases. In the case of missile launches, the main signal detection range of the North Korean military reaches up to 370 km. Based on Pyongyang, this includes the Dongchang-ri missile base and the Yongbyon nuclear facility.

Moreover, the endurance time of the upgraded Baekdu reconnaissance aircraft has been increased. The endurance time has been extended to over 6 hours, and the operating altitude raised to 40,000 feet (approximately 12 km). This is similar to the normal operating altitude (15 km) of the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft possessed by the United States Forces Korea, thus staying out of the range of North Korea’s surface-to-air missiles.

The four Baekdu reconnaissance aircraft being upgraded by KAI are modified and developed based on the French Dassault ‘Falcon 2000S’ business jet. However, since the Falcon 2000S has been discontinued, the Falcon 2000LXS business jet from the same company is expected to be used as the next model.

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