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The Republic of Korea Air Force ('''ROK Air Force''', '''ROKAF''', of Military Of South Korea . The current Chief of Staff is General Kim Sung-Il . HISTORY Founding Years Shortly after Korean independence form Japanese Colonial Rule , Korean Air Construction Association was founded in 1946 by air-affiliated people to publicize the importance of air power. Despite the then-scanty status of Korean armed forces, the first air unit was formed on May 5th , 1948 under the direction of Dong Wi-bu, the fore-runner to modern Korean Ministry of National Defence. On September 13th 1949 , the United States contributed 10 L-4 Grasshopper to the Korean air unit. An Army Air Academy was founded on January, 1949, and ROKAF was officially founded on October, 1949. The outbreak of Korean War and the 1950 s The 1950s were critical time for ROKAF, as it had expanded tremendously during the Mass bombing operations and flew independent sorties. After the war, the ROKAF Headquarters was moved to Daebangdong, Seoul . Air Force University was also founded in 1956. The 1960 s To counter the threat of possible North Korean aggression, ROKAF underwent a subsantial capability enhancement. ROKAF acquired T-28 trainer, F-86D all-weather interceptors, F-5A fighters and F-4D 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. Eunma Unit was founded in 1966 to aid the United States during the Vietnam War . The 1970 s ROKAF was posed with a security with increasingly belligerent North Korea throughout the 1970s. The South Korean government increased its expenditure on the ROKAF, resulting in purchase of F-5E fighters (August 1974) and F-4E fighter bombers. Support aircrafts, such as C-123 Provider s and S-2 Tracker s were also purchased at the time. Great emphasis was placed in the flight training program; new trainer aircrafts ( T-41 Mescalero and Cessna T-37 ) purchased, and Air Force Education & Training Command was also founded in 1973 to consolidate and enhance the quality of personnel training. The 1980 s ROKAF concentrated on qualitative expansion of aircrafts to catch up to the strength of North Korean Air Force. In 1982, Korean variants of F-5E, Jegong-ho ( was hosted, ROKAF contributed to the succesful hosting of the event by helping to oversee the entire security detail. ROKAF also moved the headquarters and Air Force Education & Training Command. 40 KF-16 fighters, advanced versions of F-16 Fighting Falcon Block 32, was introduced in 1989. The 1990 s South Korean committed its support for the Coalition force during the Gulf War . Bima Unit was formed to participate in Operation Desert Storm. ROKAF also provided Airlift support for Peacekeeping Operations in Somalia in 1993. The increased participation in international operations depicted the elevated ROKAF's international position. Over 140 KF-16 fighters, advanced versions of F-16 Fighting Falcon Block 52, was introduced as part of the Peace Bridge II & III program from 1994. In 1997, for the first time in Korean aviation history, women cadets were accepted into the Air Force Academy. Present South Korea maintains a modern air force in order to defend itself from various modes of threats, including the North Korean Army , which fields about twice as many aircraft (of mostly obsolescent types). As of 2005 , it operated more than 230 KF-16 s, 234 F-5 s, 130 F-4 s 4 F-15Ks with the rest of the 36 being delivered in early 2008 , and a number of South Korean made KAI A-50 s among its Combat Aircraft . The Korean variant of F-15E were named F-15K ''Slam Eagles''. South Korea became one of the world's few aircraft exporters when it exported 19 KT-1 indigenous training aircraf to Indonesia in 2003. Korean Aerospace Industries , the South Korean national aerospace company, has plans to export more KT-1 and T-50 trainer aircrafts. STRUCTURE The air force is composed of Air Force Headquarters, the Combat Air Command, Air Defense Command, and Air Traffic Control Center.
CURRENT PROJECTS F-X fighter program One of the most recent additions to the ROKAF is the F-15K , an advanced derivative of the F-15E Strike Eagle which fulfilled the requirements of the "F-X" next generation fighter program in 2002 . The F-15K was chosen over the Dassault Rafale , the Eurofighter Typhoon , and the Sukhoi Su-35 . E-X Early warning aircraft program MAIN EQUIPMENT SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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