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South Korea Air Force
The air force was organized into three commands operating
approximately 700 aircraft from eight major airbases: the Combat
Air Command controlled the bulk of the roughly 500 jet combat
aircraft; a small Air Transportation Command had 37 transport
aircraft; and the Air Training Command used 7 types of trainers
(see
table 17, Appendix). In 1990 the air force had 40,000
personnel on active duty. Most of these personnel were stationed
at large, well-defended air bases located at Suwon, Osan,
Ch'ongju, Kangnong, Taegu, Kunsan, Kwangju, and Sunch'on. The air
force also operated an unknown number of smaller airbases.
Civilian airfields, including three international airfields at
Seoul, Pusan, and Cheju, would be utilized in wartime, as would
specially designed sections of major highways.
The Combat Air Command, headquartered at Osan, controlled
aircraft that included twenty-two squadrons of ground attack
fighters/interceptors, twenty-three counterinsurgency aircraft in
one squadron, twenty reconnaissance aircraft in one squadron, and
fifteen search-and-rescue helicopters in one squadron. All of
these aircraft were produced in the United States, with the
exception of sixty-eight Northrop F-5E/Fs that were coproduced
with Korean Air. The 294 Northrop F-5s and 36 General Dynamics F16C /Ds were the primary ground attack aircraft. Approximately 130
McDonnell Douglas F-4s were deployed for air defense but were
equally useful in ground attack. All three types of aircraft were
capable of being used in either role, depending on their
armament. The air force supported army counterinsurgency programs
with twenty-three Cessna A-37 aircraft, used as forward air
controllers, but which could also be used in ground attack. Eight
Northrop F-5s and twelve McDonnell Douglas F-4s were equipped
solely for reconnaissance. A total of fifteen Bell UH-1B and UH1H helicopters were available for search-and-rescue operations.
During the 1980s, the air force modernization program focused
primarily on the formation and deployment of twelve new fighter
aircraft squadrons and the establishment of an automated air
defense network. The F-16 provided South Korea with an aircraft
believed to be technologically superior to similarly designed
communist aircraft, including the Soviet-produced MiG-29, the
most sophisticated aircraft employed by the North Korean air
force. South Korea-United States coproduction of F-5 aircraft
demonstrated the resolve of South Korean military planners to
promote a defense industry that simultaneously utilized advanced
United States technology while enhancing indigenous efforts both
at establishing an aviation industry and increasing access to
Western technology.
The Tactical Air Control Center at Osan became operational in
1983. Reconnaissance aircraft and air defense radar sites
informed the center about potentially hostile aircraft before
they entered South Korean airspace. In wartime this capability
was expected to allow South Korean air controllers more time to
assess threat and the ability quickly to communicate orders to
interceptor aircraft and surface-to-air missile sites.
Data as of June 1990
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