The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF; ko, 대한민국 공군; RR: ''Daehanminguk Gong-gun''), also known as the ROK Air Force or South Korean Air Force, is the aerial warfare service branch of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

, operating under the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea.

History

1940s

Shortly after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the South Korean Air Construction Association was founded on August 10, 1946, to publicize the importance of air power. Despite the then-scanty status of Korean armed forces, the first air unit was formed on May 5, 1948, under the direction of Dong Wi-bu, the forerunner to the modern South Korean

Ministry of National Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

. On September 13, 1949, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

contributed 10

L-4 Grasshopper The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is P ...

observation aircraft to the South Korean air unit. An Army Air Academy was founded in January 1949, and the ROKAF was officially founded in October 1949.

1950s

The 1950s were a critical time for the ROKAF as it expanded tremendously during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. At the outbreak of the war, the ROKAF consisted of 1,800 personnel but was equipped with only 20 trainers and liaison aircraft, including 10

North American T-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air force ...

advanced trainers purchased from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The

North Korean air force The Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force (KPAAF; ; Hanja: 朝鮮人民軍航空 및 反航空軍 ) is the unified military aviation force of North Korea. It is the second largest branch of the Korean People's Army comprising an estimated ...

had acquired a considerable number of

Yak-9 The Yakovlev Yak-9 (russian: Яковлев Як-9) is a single-engine, single-seat multipurpose fighter aircraft used by the Soviet Union and its allies during World War II and the early Cold War. It was a development of the robust and succ ...

and

La-7 The Lavochkin La-7 (russian: Лавочкин Ла-7) was a piston-engined single-seat Soviet fighter aircraft developed during World War II by the Lavochkin Design Bureau. It was a development and refinement of the Lavochkin La-5, and the la ...

fighters from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, dwarfing the ROKAF in terms of size and strength. However, during the course of the war, the ROKAF acquired 110 aircraft: 79 fighter-bombers, three fighter squadrons, and one fighter wing. The first combat aircraft received were North American F-51D Mustangs, along with a contingent of

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sig ...

instructor pilots under the command of Major

Dean Hess Dean Elmer Hess (December 6, 1917 – March 2, 2015) was an American minister and United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who was involved in the so-called "Kiddy Car Airlift," the documented rescue of 950 orphans and 80 orphanage staff from t ...

, as part of Bout One Project. The ROKAF participated in bombing operations and flew independent sorties. After the war, the ROKAF Headquarters was moved to Daebangdong,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

. Air Force University was also founded in 1956.

1960s

To counter the threat of possible North Korean aggression, the ROKAF underwent a substantial capability enhancement. The ROKAF acquired

North American T-28 Trojan The North American Aviation T-28 Trojan is a radial-engine military trainer aircraft manufactured by North American Aviation and used by the United States Air Force and United States Navy beginning in the 1950s. Besides its use as a trainer, ...

trainers, North American F-86D Sabre night- and all-weather interceptors,

Northrop F-5 The Northrop F-5 is a family of supersonic light fighter aircraft initially designed as a privately funded project in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. There are two main models, the original F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter variants and t ...

fighters and McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom fighter bombers. Air Force Operations Command was established in 1961 to secure efficient command and control facilities. Air Force Logistics Command was established in 1966, and emergency runways were constructed for emergency use during wartime. The Eunma Unit was founded in 1966 to operate Curtiss C-46 Commando transport aircraft used to support

Republic of Korea Army The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ko, 대한민국 육군; Hanja: 大韓民國陸軍; RR: ''Daehanminguk Yuk-gun''), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the l ...

and

Republic of Korea Marine Corps The Republic of Korea Marine Corps (ROKMC; ko, 대한민국 해병대, Daehanminguk Haebyeongdae), also known as the ROK Marine Corps or ROK Marines, is the marine corps of South Korea. The ROKMC is a branch of the Republic of Korea Navy respo ...

units serving in South Vietnam during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

1970s

The ROKAF was posed with a security risk, with an increasingly belligerent North Korea throughout the 1970s. The South Korean government increased its expenditure on the ROKAF, resulting in the purchase of Northrop F-5E Tiger II fighters in August 1974 and F-4E fighter-bombers. Support aircraft, such as

Fairchild C-123 Provider The Fairchild C-123 Provider is an American military transport aircraft designed by Chase Aircraft and then built by Fairchild Aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. In addition to its USAF service, which included later service with the Air Force Re ...

s and Grumman S-2 Trackers were also purchased at the time. Great emphasis was placed in the flight training program; new trainer aircraft (

Cessna T-41 Mescalero The Cessna T-41 Mescalero is a military version of the popular Cessna 172, operated by the United States Air Force and Army, as well as the armed forces of various other countries as a pilot-training aircraft. Design and development In 1964, ...

and

Cessna T-37 The Cessna T-37 Tweet (designated Model 318 by Cessna) is a small, economical twin-engined jet trainer type which flew for decades as a primary trainer for the United States Air Force (USAF) and in the air forces of several other nations. The ...

) were purchased, and the Air Force Education & Training Command was also founded in 1973 to consolidate and enhance the quality of personnel training.

1980s

The ROKAF concentrated on qualitative expansion of aircraft to catch up to the strength of the North Korean Air Force. In 1982, Korean variants of the F-5E, the Jegong-ho were first produced. The ROKAF gathered a good deal of information on the North Korean Air Force when Captain Lee Woong-pyeong, a North Korean pilot, defected to South Korea. The Korean Combat Operations Information center was soon formed and the Air Defence System was automated to attain air superiority against

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. When the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

was held in

, the ROKAF contributed to the success of this event by helping to oversee the entire security system. The ROKAF also moved its headquarters and the Air Force Education & Training Command to other locations. 40 General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters were also purchased in 1989.

1990s

South Korea committed its support for coalition forces during the

Persian Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

, forming the "Bima Unit" to fight in the war. The ROKAF also provided airlift support for peacekeeping operations in

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

in 1993. The increased participation in international operations depicted the ROKAF's elevated international position. Over 180

KF-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successf ...

fighters of F-16 Block 52 specifications were introduced as part of the Peace Bridge II & III program from 1994. In 1997, for the first time in Korean aviation history, female cadets were accepted into the Korean Air Force Academy.

2000s

The last of the old South Korean 60 F-5A/B fighters were all retired in August 2007, and they were replaced with the F-15K and F/A-50. On October 20, 2009, Bruce S. Lemkin, deputy undersecretary of the U.S. Air Force said that the ROKAF's limited intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities increased the risk of instability on the Korean Peninsula and suggested the purchase of American systems such as the

F-35 Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide elect ...

to close this gap.

2010s

The South Korean Air Force also expressed interests in acquiring the

RQ-4 Global Hawk The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, remotely-piloted surveillance aircraft of the 1990s–2020s. It was initially designed by Ryan Aeronautical (now part of Northrop Grumman), and known as Tier II+ during development. The ...

remotely piloted vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human Aircraft pilot, pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an #Terminology, unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes add ...

(RPV) and a number of Joint Direct Attack Munition conversion kits to further improve its intelligence and offensive capabilities. In 2014, Northrop Grumman awarded a contract to provide South Korea with four RQ-4 Global. The South Korean Airforce acquired 40 F-35s and +20 additional F-35.

2020s

In 2021, the Space Operations Center was established at the Air Force Headquarters.

Organization

Republic of Korea Air Force Headquarters

* Air Force Operations Command **Air Combat Command *** 1st Fighter Wing, based at Gwangju (F-5E/F) *** 8th Fighter Wing, based at

Wonju Wonju () is the most populous city in Gangwon Province, South Korea. The city is located approximately east of Seoul. Wonju was the site of three crucial battles during the Korean War. Geography Wonju sits at the southwestern corner of Gangw ...

(FA-50) *** 10th Fighter Wing, based at Suwon (KF-5E/F, F-4E) *** 11th Fighter Wing, based at Daegu (F-15K) *** 16th Fighter Wing, based at

Yecheon Yecheon County is a county in the province of North Gyeongsang, South Korea. It is 661 km2 in area, and in 2004 had a population of 52,311. It has lost over 2/3 of its inhabitants since the mid-1960s. It consists of twelve administrative d ...

(TA-50, FA -50) *** 17th Fighter Wing, based at

Cheongju Cheongju () is the capital and largest city of North Chungcheong Province in South Korea. History Cheongju has been an important provincial town since ancient times. In the Cheongju Mountains, specifically in the one where Sangdang Sanseong is ...

(F-35A) *** 18th Fighter Wing, based at

Gangneung Gangneung () is a municipal city in the province of Gangwon-do, on the east coast of South Korea. It has a population of 213,658 (as of 2017).Gangneung City (2003)Population & Households. Retrieved January 14, 2006. Gangneung is the economic ...

(KF-5E/F) *** 19th Fighter Wing, based at Chungju (KF-16) *** 20th Fighter Wing, based at

Seosan Seosan () is a city in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea, with a population of roughly 175,000 according to the 2017 census. Located at the northwestern end of South Chungcheong Province, it is bounded by Dangjin City, Naepo New Town, Yes ...

(KF-16) *** 29th Tactical Fighter Weapons Group, base at

*** 38th Fighter Group, based at

Gunsan Gunsan (), also romanized as Kunsan, is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is on the south bank of the Geum River just upstream from its exit into the Yellow Sea. It has emerged as a high-tech manufacturing industrial city and an i ...

(KF-16) ** Air Mobility & Reconnaissance Command *** 3rd Flying Training Wing, based at

Sacheon Sacheon () is a city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. Sacheon's chief fame comes from its being the site of two naval battles in the Seven Year War. The city as it now exists results from the merging of Sacheon-gun and Samcheonpo-si in ...

*** 5th Air Mobility Wing, based at Gimhae **** Air Force Aerial Command Unit based at Gangseo-gu, Busan *** 15th Special Missions Wing, based at

Seongnam Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential ci ...

*** 39th Reconnaissance Wing, based at Chungju *** 6th Search & Rescue Air Group, base at

**** 231st Search and Rescue Squadron **** 233th Search and Rescue Squadron **** 235th Search and Rescue Squadron **** Special search and Rescue squad *** 28th Flight Group *** 51st Air Control Flight Group, base at Gimhae ** Air Defense Missile Command *** 1st Air Defense Missile Brigade *** 2nd Air Defense Missile Brigade *** 3rd Air Defense Missile Brigade ** Air Defense & Control Command *** 31st Air Defense & Control Group (1MCRC) *** 32nd Air Defense & Control Group (2MCRC) *** 33rd Air Defense & Control Group *** 34th Air Defense & Control Group * Air Force Logistics Command * Air Force Education & Training Command ** Basic Military Training Wing ** Air Force Aviation Science High School ** 1st Logistics School ** 2nd Logistics School ** Information Communication School ** Administrative School ** Air Defence Artillery School ** Boramae Leadership Center *

Air Force Academy An air force academy or air academy is a national institution that provides initial officer training, possibly including undergraduate level education, to air force officer cadets who are preparing to be commissioned officers in a national air for ...

Current Major Projects

KF-X future fighter program

The Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KF-21 Boramae (Northern Goshawk) is a multi-role 4.5 generation fighter. It will have capabilities in between the light FA-50 fighter and the high-grade, long range, heavy payload F-15K and F-35 Lightning II.

Mid-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (MUAV)

The indigenously developed KUS-FS, nicknamed MUAV or Korean Unmanned System (KUS-FS), is designed for armed land and sea Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions with endurance of up to 24 hours. Its maiden flight was in 2012. Korean Air's Aerospace Division (KAL-ASD) unveiled its MALE UAV in 2019 with LIG Nex1 SAR and Hanwha EO/IR sensors, aimed for serial production in 2021. It reportedly has a wider wingspan than the

Reaper A reaper is a farm implement or person that reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used in Roma ...

at 25 m and is powered by a 1200 hp Pratt & Whitney PT6 turboprop engine. South Korea will develop turbofan engines to be installed in high-performance unmanned aerial vehicles by 2025.

M-SAM Block II

In the spring of 2017 the PIP missile (M-SAM Block II) began its final tests, during which it shot down five of five practice ballistic missile targets. Seven (batteries) are scheduled for deployment throughout South Korea by 2022.

L-SAM

L-SAM refers to a locally made long-range surface-to-air missile current under development, while the Cheolmae II, also known as KM-SAM, is a domestically manufactured medium-range surface-to-air missile capable of engaging an incoming target at an altitude as high as 20 kilometers. The new project has been nicknamed the K-THAAD due to its planned long range of 25 to 93 miles and ability to hit targets high as 200,000 feet. Nearly $1 billion has been devoted to the L-SAM or Cheolmae-4, which is scheduled for completion in 2022 with deployment of four batteries to follow a year or two afterwards.

Long Range Air Defense Radar

South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has launched a project to develop an indigenous long-range air defense radar. Foreign-manufactured radars (Lockheed Martin TPS-77) currently in use to monitor Kadiz will be phased out and replaced with the new domestic equipment starting from 2027, according to the agency.

Inventory

Aircraft

Retired aircraft

Previous aircraft operated by the Air Force consisted of the P-51 Mustang,

North American F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing ...

, F-4 Phantom II, Curtiss C-46,

Douglas C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (Royal Air Force, RAF, Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF, Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF, Royal New Zealand Air Force, RNZAF, and South African Air Force, SAAF designation) is a airlift, military transport ai ...

, Grumman S-2 Tracker,

Lockheed T-33 The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

, BAe 748,

, Cessna A-37, North American T-28,

North American T-6 The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...

Sikorsky H-19 The Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw (company model number S-55) was a multi-purpose helicopter used by the United States Army and United States Air Force. It was also license-built by Westland Aircraft as the Westland Whirlwind in the United Kingdom ...

, and the

Bell UH-1 Huey The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered helico ...

Air Defence

The ROKAF Air Defence Artillery Command transferred from the

's air defense artillery and was established as a basic branch on 1 July 1991.

Military ranks

Officer ranks can be learned fairly easily if one sees the pattern. "So" equals small; "Jung" equals medium; "Dae" equals large. "Jun" equals the prefix sub-.. Each of these is coupled with "wi" equals company grade, "ryeong" equals field grade, and "jang" equals general. This system is due to the

hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

or Sino-Korean origin of the names.

Warrant officers

Roundels

References

External links

* ROK Air Force official website
Korean

English
{{Authority control Military of South Korea