S.Korea to buy four Global Hawks to beef up defense capabilities

South Korea planned to buy four Global Hawks, the unmanned spy drone, from the United States to beef up its defense capabilities against possible missile and nuclear threats from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Yonhap News Agency reported on Friday.
Seoul planned to buy the high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) through the U.S. Foreign Military Sale (FMS) program, or the government-to-government contract, according to an official of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) cited by Yonhap.
If Washington sends the letter of acceptance (LOA) to the defense procurement agency within this year, the DAPA would start the buying process in early 2014, the official said. If finally decided, a total of four RQ-4 Block 30s, usually called Global Hawk, will be deployed on the Korean Peninsula by 2017.

Russian Bombers to Continue Patrols Over South America

Two Russian Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers currently on a tour-of-duty in South America will carry out a series of patrol missions over the region in line with the program of combat training, the Defense Ministry said.
The nuclear-capable bombers arrived in Venezuela on October 28 and conducted patrols over the Caribbean before landing in Nicaragua on Thursday.
“The crews are now resting and preparing for new missions. They are scheduled to carry out several patrols over the region,” Commander of the Russian Long-Range Aviation, Lt. Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev, said at a Defense Ministry meeting on Thursday.
The general did not provide details of the future missions or specify the patrol routes.