(LEAD) S. Korea's Navy creates aviation unit tasked with bolstering maritime security

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By Song Sang-ho

SEOUL, July 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Navy on Friday launched a new aviation command to be armed with high-end surveillance aircraft, choppers and drones, as part of efforts for stronger, longer-range maritime security capabilities, officials said.

Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Lee Jong-ho hosted a ceremony launching the Naval Air Command at an airport in Pohang, 370 kilometers south of Seoul, pledging efforts for "perfect" maritime aviation operations.

The newly minted command has grown out of the now-defunct Air Wing Six, the Navy's erstwhile centerpiece of aviation operations. Rear Adm. Lee Sang-sik, former chief of Air Wing Six, has been appointed the first chief of the command.

"We have achieved a new milestone -- the creation of the Naval Air Command," CNO Adm. Lee said. "As the Navy's aviation forces are central to combined, joint operations, I call for strengthening the Navy's air operations by further developing an operational concept and continuing to secure high-tech aviation assets."

The command will run the Maritime Air Operation Coordination Council, a South Korea-U.S. dialogue platform designed to reinforce peacetime security cooperation with the U.S. Seventh Fleet and lead combined wartime operations, according to the Navy.

The unit will operate a series of assets that the Navy plans to deploy in the coming years. The assets include the P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft, MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, minesweeping choppers and unmanned surveillance aerial vehicles.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
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