The Republic of Korea faces a heavily-armed intransigent North Korea which is equipped with up to 600 tactical jet aircraft. In pursuit of newer and more capable weapons, in December of 1981, the Republic of Korea signed a letter of agreement for the purchase of 36 F-16C/D Block 32 Fighting Falcons. This made the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) the first foreign operator of the F-16C/D model of the Fighting Falcon. This proagram was known as Peace Bridge. These new F-16 aircraft were intended to augment the F-4D/E Phantoms and the F-5E Tiger IIs, which were at that time the primary combat aircraft serving with the ROKAF.
The Korean program was christened Victory Falcon in 1986 by Chun Doo Hwan, president of the Republic of Korea. Four more F-16D Block 32s were ordered in June of 1988. The ROKAF's F-16s currently serve with the 11th Tactical Fighter Wing based at Taegu AB in southern South Korea.
In the more ambitious Korean Fighter Program (previously known as the F-X program), the F-16 lost out to the F/A-18 Hornet. On December 18, 1989, the Korean government announced that they were going to acquire 120 examples of the F/A-18. The decision was based in part on a lucrative offset offer under which most of the F/A-18s would be manufactured in Korea.
However, the planned purchase of 120 Hornets by Korea got bogged down in funding technicalities, and Korea opted for 120 more F-16s instead. They will all be manufactured to the Block 52 standard, and will have upgraded avionics and Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 engines. They will be equipped to carry the LANTIRN night navigation/targeting pod system and will be able to carry and fire the AIM-120 AMRAAM and the AGM-88 HARM antiradiation missile. Under the terms of the agreement, Lockheed at Fort Worth will manufacture the first 12 aircraft, the next 36 will be delivered in kit form and assembled in South Korea, whereas the last 72 will built in South Korea by Samsung Aerospace.
South Korea took delivery of the first of these aircraft on December 2, 1994. The first five F-16s to be assembled locally by Samsung from Lockheed Martin-supplied knockdown kits were accepted on November 9, 1995 at the Sachon air base.
In July of 2000, it was announced that a contract had been signed for the production of 20 Block 52 F-16C/Ds. They will be built by Korean Aerospace Industries, and will be powered by F100-PW-229 engines, and will be equipped with the ASPJ internal countermeasures system, APG-68(V)7 radar, LANTIRN targeting and navigation systems. They will be capable of carrying AMRAAAM, HARM, and SLAM missiles. First delivery is scheduled for July 2003.
Serials of ROKAF F-16s:
84-1370/1373 General Dynamics F-16D Fighting Falcon
for South Korea as 41370/41373
85-1384/1385 General Dynamics F-16D Fighting Falcon
for South Korea
85-1574/1583 General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon
to South Korea as 51574/51583
85-1584/1585 General Dynamics F-16D Fighting Falcon
to South Korea as 51584,51585
86-1586/1597 General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon
for South Korea
87-1653/1660 General Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon
for South Korea as 71653/71660.
90-0938/0941 General Dynamics F-16D Fighting Falcon
sold to South Korea as 00938/00941
Serials for F-16s built wholly or in kit form:
92-4000 Lockheed/General Dynamics F-16C Block 52G Fighting Falcon
for Korea
92-4001 Lockheed/General Dynamics F-16C Block 52H Fighting Falcon
for Korea
92-4002/4003 Lockheed/General Dynamics F-16C Block 52J Fighting Falcon
for Korea
92-4004/4008 Lockheed/General Dynamics F-16C Block 52K Fighting Falcon
for Korea
92-4009/4013 Lockheed/General Dynamics F-16C Block 52L Fighting Falcon
for Korea
92-4014/4017 Lockheed/General Dynamics F-16C Block 52M Fighting Falcon
for Korea
92-4018/4027 Lockheed/General Dynamics F-16C Block 52N Fighting Falcon
for Korea
92-4028/4031 Lockheed/General Dynamics F-16D Block 52G Fighting Falcon
for Korea
92-4032/4037 Lockheed/General Dynamics F-16D Block 52H Fighting Falcon
for Korea
92-4038 Lockheed/General Dynamics F-16D Block 52K Fighting Falcon
for Korea
92-4039 Lockheed/General Dynamics F-16D Block 52L Fighting Falcon
for Korea
92-4040/4041 Lockheed/General Dynamics F-16D Block 52M Fighting Falcon
for Korea
92-4042/4047 Lockheed/General Dynamics F-16D Block 52N Fighting Falcon
for Korea
93-4048/4099 Lockheed Martin F-16C Block 52D Fighting Falcon
c/n KC-29/KC-80. To South Korea
93-4100/4119 Lockheed Martin F-16D Block 52D Fighting Falcon
c/n KD-21/KD-40. To South Korea
Serials for those to built under license by Samsung have not yet
been announced.
This list is incomplete and inconsistent (the numbers do not add up to the number ordered), and I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has additions or corrections.
Sources:
-
Combat Aircraft F-16, Doug Richardson, Crescent, 1992.
-
General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors, John Wegg,
Naval Institute Press, 1990.
-
The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and Peter Bowers,
Orion, 1987.
-
United States Military Aircraft Since 1909, Gordon Swanborough
and Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.
-
F-16 Fighting Falcon--A Major Review of the West's Universal
Warplane, Robert F. Dorr, World Airpower Journal, Spring 1991.
-
The World's Great Interceptor Aircraft, Gallery, 1989.
-
Modern Military Aircraft--F-16 Viper, Lou Drendel, Squadron/Signal
Publications, 1992.
-
Lockheed F-16 Variants, Part 1, World Airpower Journal, Volume 21,
Summer 1995.
-
E-mail from Ben Marselis
- Airscene Headlines, Air International Sept 2000.
