The U.S. Air Force said Tuesday that it was trying to recover an MQ-9 Reaper drone that fell into the Yellow Sea off South Korea’s west coast a day earlier.
The unmanned drone had an “incident” near Maldo-Ri Island during a routine mission early Monday, according to a statement released by Kunsan Air Base, a U.S. military base on South Korea’s west coast. The drone was assigned to the 431st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, which operates MQ-9 drones, one of the most expensive and sophisticated in the U.S. arsenal, from the Kunsan Air Base.
A spokeswoman for the military confirmed on Tuesday afternoon local time that the drone had not yet been recovered. The U.S. military has more than 28,000 troops in South Korea, one of its largest deployments in the world. U.S. forces have been stationed in South Korea continuously since the end of the Korean War in 1953, as a deterrent to North Korea.
The cause of the incident and whether there was damage to the drone are still under investigation, the spokeswoman said. China, North Korea and South Korea all have coasts on the Yellow Sea.
Under the Obama administration, the U.S. military increasingly turned to Reapers and other drones to launch attacks in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, making it a staple of military operations. While it’s favored because it can fly at high altitudes for nearly 27 hours, it’s easy to shoot down because it is slow. And some have experienced mechanical issues in the past decade, leading to crashes.
The U.S. has been criticized for the deaths of thousands of civilians from drone strikes since they were first used widely more than a decade ago.
The U.S. Air Force, Marines and Department of Homeland Security also use MQ-9 Reapers for long-range intelligence and reconnaissance over land and sea. The model has a wingspan of 66 feet, almost as wide as a single-aisle Bombardier CRJ-100 passenger jet that can carry about 50 people. It’s 36 feet long and can fly as high as 50,000 feet. It is piloted remotely and can be deployed for missions of up to 27 hours.
The Reapers are some of the most expensive drones used by the U.S. military, at an average cost of $28 million a unit in 2022, according to a report from Congress. Some other reconnaissance drones used by the U.S. military include the RQ-11B Raven which costs $260,000 and the AAI RQ-7 Shadow 200 which costs $300,000.
The South Korean Defense Ministry declined to comment.
Jin Yu Young reports on South Korea, the Asia Pacific region and global breaking news from Seoul.
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