Message posted by Joerg (Webmaster) on January 14, 2008 at 3:29:14 PST:

From Touchdown News, thanks to Alan Johnson for sending us the article:

F-15Ks to Participate in Alliance Training in US

13-01-2008By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

Six F-15K fighters of the South Korean Air Force will participate in a U.S.-led advanced aerial combat training exercise in August for the first time, a U.S. military group attached to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul said Sunday.

The annual multinational exercise, called Red Flag, will take place at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada Aug. 10-22, the Joint U.S. Military Affairs Group-Korea (JUSMAG-K) said in a news release.

Lieutenant Colonel select Jung Jae-sok will lead the Korean contingent involving 18 pilots, weapons systems operators and more than 50 support personnel, it said.

``The exercise is a two-week-long event which places aircrews in demanding scenarios, including both day and night sorties in a highly realistic simulated wartime environment,'' it said.

The exercise, which began in 1975, is conducted in four-to-six cycles a year by 414th Combat Training Squadron of the 57th Wing, U.S. military officials said. The training aims to train pilots from the U.S. Air Force, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and other allied countries for real combat situations.

South Korea took part in the Red Flag exercises from 1979 to 1992 using F-16 aircraft and has dispatched a small group of personnel to observe the ``world championship'' exercises, Air Force officials said.

During the training period, the Korean Air Force will receive new F-15K aircraft direct from the factory in St. Louis and fly them in simulated combat a week later, according to the release.

In 2002, Boeing's F-15K Eagle was selected for the 40-plane, $4.2 billion first phase of the country's fighter procurement project, dubbed ``F-X.'' Deliveries are to be completed by the end of this year.

The F-15K is capable of air-to-ground, air-to-air and air-to-sea missions day or night, under any weather conditions. It has a 23,000-pound payload and can fly at a maximum speed of Mach 2.3, with a combat radius of 1,800 kilometers. A single aircraft costs $100 million.

Seoul is in price negotiations with Boeing over the $2.4 billion. 20-plane second phase fighter procurement.

The F-X program aims to acquire 120 high-tech fighters by 2020 to replace aging F-4s and F-5s.

The third phase for stealth fighters is to start in 2011, according to the Air Force.

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