South Korean reconnaissance UAV crashes into helicopter, both destroyed

The South Korean military said the incident occurred at 1 p.m. on March 17 (3 p.m. Hanoi time), when a Heron medium-range reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) landed at a base in Gwangjeok Commune, Yangju-si District, Gyeonggi Province.

The Heron collided with a helicopter parked at the base, causing both to burst into flames. Firefighters extinguished the blaze within 30 minutes, but both aircraft were completely destroyed.

The South Korean Army confirmed that the collision "was not caused by North Korea jamming GPS satellite signals".

"There were no casualties in the incident. It does not appear to be a terrorist attack or an enemy attack. We are investigating the exact cause of the accident and the extent of the damage," a South Korean army official said.

It is unclear whether the KUH-1 helicopter was operating at the time of the collision. Yonhap news agency Citing an anonymous source, the KUH-1 was parked at the airport and had not participated in any previous missions.

The incident occurred less than two weeks after a squadron of KF-16 fighter jets dropped eight Mark 82 bombs, each containing nearly 90 kg of high explosives, into a residential area in Gyeonggi Province during a drill, injuring 31 people and destroying and damaging at least 142 structures.

Heron is a UAV developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), each unit has a factory price of about 15 million USD. The export price of Heron UAV can be up to 50 million USD, including the cost of training, ground control station, logistics and technical support.

The South Korean Army ordered three Herons and put them into service in 2016, and they are responsible for monitoring North Korea's coastal artillery in North Hwanghae and South Hwanghae provinces.

The KUH-1 helicopter was developed by South Korea in 2006 and put into service in 2012. The aircraft has a crew of two and can carry 9 soldiers or 18 passengers depending on the variant. The KUH-1 has a maximum speed of about 270-280 km/h, a range of more than 820 km with an auxiliary fuel tank, and a ceiling of 4,500 m. The helicopter has a weapon rack to mount a 7.62 mm gun cluster, cannon, anti-tank missiles and rockets.