Free Republic

The South Korean government has set a 1.4 trillion won, or 1.2-billion US dollar budget for next year in purchasing additional K-9 self-propelled howitzers and F-15K fighter jets. Seoul's defense and finance ministries said Friday that the amount of 2011's national defense budget has increased by 5.8 percent compared to this year with the hopes of bolstering the nation's military capabilities in the wake of this week's artillery exchange with North Korea. Included in this budget is the money to buy 100 K-9 howitzers which cost about 3.5 million dollars each. These K-9's, known for providing quick and effective fire...

Two Air Force pilots were killed when an RF-4C reconnaissance plane crashed into a mountain in North Jeolla Province on Friday during a low-altitude training mission. The Air Force is investigating whether the crash was due to mechanical problems or pilot error. The crash was the third one so far this year for the Air Force after F5 fighter jets crashed in March and June. The three crashes this year involved different aircraft, but all are more than 30 years old. The RF-4C was produced in the U.S. in 1966, and the Air Force bought and recycled them in 1990s...

One of the three F-15K aircraft delivered by U.S. aerospace company Boeing to the South Korean Air Force (ROKAF) in September had severe defects allegedly due to the poor quality of work at a St. Louis manufacturing facility, industry sources said Thursday. On Sept. 9, Boeing delivered three of the second batch of 21 F-15Ks ordered under a 2008 contract, following the delivery of 40 F-15Ks under a previous deal in 2002. But one of the newly arrived aircraft had an engine damaged by foreign objects, and fuel transfer and avionics glitches, the sources said, citing testimony of Korean technicians...

Kwangju Air Base, Republic of Korea, is hosting the fourth annual MAX THUNDER exercise, a bi-lateral training exercise with ROK military forces. The exercise will occur in western airspace over the Korean Peninsula between ROK and U.S. allied air forces. Republic of Korea Air Force aircrew members will train alongside U.S. Air Force aircrew during this exercise which employs scenarios comparable to RED FLAG at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. According to base officials, although MAX THUNDER will not have the same airspace, ranges and threat replication capabilities like those at RED FLAG, USAF and RoKAF Airmen will receive a...

South Korea and the United States kicked off a joint air force training exercise Friday to increase interoperability among the airmen of the two allies. About 50 fighter jets, including F-15Ks and KF-16s from South Korea as well as F-16 Fighting Falcons and KC-135 Stratotankers from the U.S., are participating in the eight-day drill, the South Korean Air Force said in a news release. More than 250 pilots from the allies will be mobilized for the drill, named "Max Thunder," to be staged over the western airspace of the Korean Peninsula, it said. "This air readiness exercise is aimed at...

[Exclusive] US approves sale of stealthy F-15 to South Korea By Jung Sung-ki U.S. aerospace company Boeing is looking to compete for a major fighter acquisition project in South Korea after receiving Pentagon approval to export the stealth version of its F-15 aircraft, Silent Eagle, according to Boeing and South Korean procurement officials. The F-15SE export approval for South Korea is the first of its kind, as Boeing is offering the aircraft to other current users such as Israel, Singapore and Saudi Arabia. Boeing is vying with U.S. Lockheed Martin and the European consortium EADS for Seoul’s third-phase F-X program...

Indonesia agreed on Thursday to join a South Korean project to develop a new fighter jet which has been delayed for years by technical and budget problems. Indonesia will acquire about 50 of the KF-X fighters in return for shouldering 20 percent of the development costs in the multi-million dollar project, the South Korean defense ministry said. The two sides also agreed to work together in production and marketing. The deal was signed in Seoul by Byun Moo-Keun, commissioner for the ministry’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), and his Indonesian counterpart Eris Herryanto. South Korea launched the project in 2000...

Indonesia and South Korea are getting ready to sign an MoU on the joint-development of a KFX fighter jet program (dubbed Boramae) later this year, following a letter of intent in March 2009 on Indonesian participation in a KFX study. When enacted, the MOU will provide a breakthrough for both countries in terms of bilateral defense collaboration and aircraft technology indigenization. The defense community and members of parliament believe that the cooperation will help the revitalization of the Indonesian defense industry. MPs urged the government to conduct a feasibility test before embarking on a US$2 billion venture that spans across...

There is a resurgence in interest in South Korea's fighter aircraft requirements, with the east Asian country deciding on a variety of aircraft as part of an ongoing modernisation of its air force's capabilities. The choices represent a mix of imported and indigenous solutions, with the country trying to find a way to match its operational requirements with a desire to promote the local industry, mainly state-owned Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). South Korea has maintained three levels of fighters - low, medium and high - as part of its operational capability. At the low level are Northrop F-5s, at the...

Boeing Co said it has applied for an export license to sell a stealthy variant of its F-15 fighter jet to South Korea, which is expected to release terms of a competition for 60 new fighters next year. Brad Jones, Boeing program manager for the F-15 "Silent Eagle" model, said South Korea has already ordered 60 K models of the F-15 fighter, and has expressed interest in the newest variant of the successful fighter, which has special coatings to help it evade enemy radar, for the next phase of its fighter procurement. Jones said Boeing had provided flight evaluation data...

After 41 years, South Korea is retiring the last of its 222 F-4D Phantom fighter-bombers. They (and F-5 fighters) have been replaced, over the last 15 years, by 40 F-15K fighter-bombers and 180 F-16s. The F-4 was a 28 ton, two seat, fighter bomber designed in the 1950s, and about 5,200 were built, mostly in the 1960s and 70s. About ten percent of them are still in service. Replacing the F-4 as a fighter-bomber is the F-15K, which is a customized version of the 36 ton U.S. F-15E (a two seat fighter bomber version of the single seat, 31 ton...

Boeing has applied for an export licence to brief South Korea on sensitive details of a stealthier version of the F-15E that is within a few months of its first flight. The US government approved an export policy in the second quarter for the F-15SE Silent Eagle after Boeing submitted details of its radar cross-section about six months earlier, says Brad Jones, Boeing programme director for F-15 development programmes. The export policy allows Boeing to request an export licence for specific customers, with South Korea as the first in queue, Jones says. The F-15SE is competing against the Lockheed Martin...

Korean Air Force decommissions F-4D jets By Jung Sung-ki Staff reporter A squadron of F-4D Phantom fighter jets conducted its last flight Wednesday, ending its 41 years of service with the ROK Air Force. A ceremony for the decommissioning of the aircraft was held at the 11th Fighter Wing in Daegu, about 300 kilometers south of Seoul. Boeing-built F-15K Slam Eagle fighters will replace the older aircraft. “Though the F-4D aircraft is fading into the mist of history, their spirit will be succeeded by the F-15K, which will further bolster our air defense,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Lee...

On April 19 conducted the first flight of F-15K41, the first of 21 F-15K Slam Eagles the company is producing under the Next Fighter II contract for the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF). The aircraft, flown by Boeing test pilot Steve Schmidt, took off from Lambert St. Louis International Airport at 2:36 p.m. Central time and landed at 3:44 p.m. The F-15K is an advanced variant of the combat-proven F-15E. Equipped with the latest technological upgrades, it is extremely capable, survivable and maintainable. The F-15K enables the ROKAF to change its focus from the short-range defense of the past...

American and South Korean military members kicked off Exercise Key Resolve/FOAL Eagle 10 March 8 and will train for 10 days here. The annual joint/combined command post and field training exercise is defense-oriented and designed to ensure the South Korean and U.S. alliance is prepared to defend against outside aggression. "Key Resolve is our combined Joint Chief of Staff exercise where we train and prepare for conflict," said Col. Danny Wolf, the 7th AF director of operations and plans. "It's a command and control exercise where we have Combined Forces Command working in concert with the ROK, JCS and all...

Another two F-5 Air Force jets crashed five minutes after take off on Tuesday, killing three pilots when they crashed into a mountain in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province. The Air Force has grounded all F-5 planes until the cause of the latest accidents becomes clear and kept most of its fighter jets in for emergency safety checks. North Korea has threatened "powerful military counteraction" against the joint U.S.-South Korean military drill known as "Key Resolve" that takes place between March 8 and 18. There are fears that the North may launch more missiles into the East Sea, but the South's F-5...

South Korea’s technologically ambitious defense ministry aims to test a scaled demonstrator for a stealthy combat drone by 2013, extending the country’s expertise in unmanned aircraft and hedging against cancellation of the KF-X fighter program. With this project, South Korea will be within 10 years of Britain and Germany in flying substantial development hardware for unmanned combat aircraft. South Korea may be ahead of Japan, which has announced no such development effort. Korea Aerospace Industries is well placed to win the project, since it has already embarked on company-funded work to acquire technology in this field, going as far as...

Rolls-Royce Offers to Power Korean Trainer, Fighter UK-led Global Engine Giant Seeks Broader Ties With Korea By Jung Sung-ki Korea Times Correspondent BRISTOL & DERBY, United Kingdom ― When it comes to fighter aircraft or warships, ordinary people, in general, first think of their design, speed and armament. At least for experts and operators, however, the engine is the most important part, as it accounts for about 30 to 40 percent of the performance. Due to super-sophisticated engine technologies, just a couple of companies in the world are able to build and provide engines, and Rolls-Royce, the U.K.-led global power...

F-15Ks Primed with 'Unpatriotic' Maps The Air Force's F-15K fighter jets carried some digital map information that is at odds with their mission to defend the country, it has emerged. The jets carried digital maps that referred to Korea's Dokdo Islets either by their Japanese name "Takeshima" or as "Liancourt Rocks," the East Sea as "Sea of Japan," and Mt. Baekdu in Chinese as "Changbaishan" -- all names that are red rags to many patriotic Koreans. This was revealed by Grand National Party lawmaker Kim Jang-soo, a former defense minister, in a questionnaire distributed Sunday prior to a parliamentary audit...

S. Korea Reconsidering Stealth Fighter Plans By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The South Korean military is having second thoughts about introducing so-called fifth-generation stealth fighters due to technical and budgetary problems. Last week, the Weapon Systems Concept Development and Application Research Center at Konkuk University in Seoul submitted its interim report on the feasibility of the KF-X indigenous fighter development project to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). The agency commissioned a six-month final feasibility study on the KF-X program in April. The report suggests major changes in required operational capabilities (ROCs) for the KF-X aircraft. In particular, the report...