The U.S. is expected to deploy a cutting-edge attack drone in South Korea this year as part of the allies’ efforts to bolster their reconnaissance and combat capabilities and better counter North Korean threats, Seoul officials said Wednesday.

The MQ-1C Gray Eagle underwent an exercise last August at the Gunsan Air Base, during which it streamed video and metadata directly to a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopter via a data link from extended distances, its manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems said in November.

The unmanned aerial vehicle’s envisioned stationing will mark the first-ever presence of an attack drone on the peninsula.

“There has been a move to dispatch the drone to be operated by the U.S. Forces Korea including last year’s test flight,” a military official said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Another official said, “The U.S. will have more leeway to send more assets to the Asia region now that it has resolved one longstanding major issue in the Middle East -- Iran -- despite the ongoing fight against the Islamic State.”

An upgrade to the MQ-1 Predator, the medium-altitude UAV was chiefly designed for reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition purposes and can be fitted with the Hellfire air-to-ground missiles or Viper Strike guided bombs for attack missions. 

It can fly fpr as long as 25 hours at an altitude of up to 8,000 meters, and carry a payload of more than 454 kilograms, the San Diego-based firm noted, calling it a “key force multiplier.”

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)