[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Will Sudanese Residents Be Rescued Today?.. 'Sky Gas Station' Cygnus Deployed

원본보기 아이콘

원본보기 아이콘

원본보기 아이콘

As violent clashes between government forces and paramilitary groups in Sudan, North Africa, enter their ninth day, threatening the safety of local Korean residents and diplomats, South Korea and other countries around the world have begun full-scale "mass evacuation" operations.

As of 11 p.m. on the 23rd, South Korea's multipurpose aerial refueling transport aircraft KC-330 Cygnus is reported to be heading to the U.S. military base in Djibouti near Sudan.

According to the flight tracking site "Flightradar24," the Cygnus aerial refueling aircraft, which took off from Busan around 8 p.m. that day, was confirmed to be passing near Taiwan around 10 p.m. Twenty-eight Korean residents in Sudan are reported to have gathered at the Korean Embassy in the capital, Khartoum, for the time being.

The destination of the Cygnus is not confirmed, but considering it appears to be following the same route as the C-130J "Super Hercules," which arrived at the U.S. military base in Djibouti the previous day, it seems the Cygnus is also heading to Djibouti. The U.S. military base is approximately 1,200 km in a straight line from Khartoum.

South Korea's Air Force C-130J transport aircraft arrived at the U.S. military base in Djibouti, a country near Sudan, on the 22nd and is on standby. On board the transport aircraft are about 50 personnel, including troops from the Army Special Warfare Command's 707th Special Mission Battalion for counterterrorism, Air Force Combat Control Teams (CCT), pilots, and maintenance personnel. They are staying in Djibouti awaiting government orders. This is the first time the 707th Special Mission Battalion, a core unit for counterterrorism response at the national strategic level, is conducting an overseas evacuation operation for overseas nationals.

The Cygnus was deployed along with two C-130Js in August 2021 when Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, fell to the Taliban, carrying out the "Miracle Operation" to rescue about 390 Afghan special contributors and their families. Known as the "flying gas station" for its aerial refueling mission, the Cygnus has nearly twice the range of the C-130J, making it suitable for evacuation operations.

The government appears to have deployed the Cygnus aerial refueling aircraft additionally to mobilize as many resources as possible for the safe evacuation of Korean residents, given the extremely unstable security situation on the ground.

Meanwhile, the United States, Saudi Arabia, France, and others have already completed or are attempting to evacuate their nationals.

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