[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Announcement of Additional Procurement of Airborne Early Warning Aircraft in September

Last Year's National Assembly Budget Review Process Added 4 Units
Currently, the Air Force Operates 4 Boeing Peace Eye Airborne Control Aircraft from the US
Strengthening Airspace Defense Capability with 4 Additional Units Expected

The Air Force will additionally acquire four airborne control aircraft this year to monitor and detect targets such as North Korean missiles and aircraft, as well as to command and control allied forces. With the additional deployment of airborne control aircraft, the South Korean military's capability to monitor North Korean missiles and defend its airspace is expected to be further strengthened.

Last year, the military announced plans to acquire two more airborne control aircraft by 2027 through the second phase of the airborne control aircraft project basic strategy. However, during the National Assembly budget review process last year, the plan shifted to acquiring four additional aircraft, and recently, the Ministry of National Defense's requirements verification committee decided on a bulk purchase of four airborne control aircraft. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration also plans to actively proceed with the project based on this decision.

Our military has deployed Aegis destroyers in the West Sea and assigned missions to the airborne early warning aircraft 'Peace Eye'.

Currently, the Air Force operates four E-737 'Peace Eye' airborne control aircraft from Boeing, introduced in 2011. Known as the "command post in the sky," the Peace Eye performs missions such as monitoring South Korea's airspace and the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ), identifying friend or foe among aircraft and ships, and command and control operations.

The new airborne control aircraft are also likely to be procured through overseas purchase projects, as with the existing ones. The current competing candidates are Boeing's Peace Eye and Saab's GlobalEye.

The Peace Eye is a modified version of the civilian E-737 aircraft, and besides South Korea, Australia and Turkey also operate the E-737 as airborne control aircraft. The Peace Eye measures 33.6 meters in length, 12.5 meters in height, and 34.3 meters in wingspan, with a maximum takeoff weight of 77.6 tons. It is equipped with the latest multifunctional electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and electronic equipment. Flying at a maximum speed of Mach 0.85, it can remain at an altitude of 10 km for over eight hours, simultaneously detecting up to 1,000 airborne targets such as North Korean fighter jets, helicopters, and AN-2 aircraft, and transmitting the information to ground command centers, fighter jets, and Aegis ships.

Saab is promoting its next-generation early warning and control aircraft, the GlobalEye. It claims the ability to monitor thousands of small targets simultaneously in the air, at sea, and on land. The first GlobalEye was commissioned in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2020. The UAE selected the GlobalEye after comparing its performance with Boeing's E-737 and Northrop Grumman's E-2D.

The greatest advantage of the GlobalEye is its design to detect thousands of targets simultaneously across land, sea, and air domains with a single aircraft. It can fly for over 11 hours, monitoring and tracking thousands of targets in the air, on land, and at sea. It can detect low-flying missiles and jet skis on the water. It is considered suitable as a response capability against threats in the air and maritime zones around the Korean Peninsula, such as Japan's patrol aircraft low-altitude threat flights and North Korea's illegal maritime transshipment activities.