[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Korean Air Challenges with Airborne Early Warning Aircraft

If L3 Harris Airborne Control System is Introduced, It Will Handle Modification Projects
Likely to Increase Localization Rate and Manage Training for Operating Personnel

Korean Air has thrown down the gauntlet in the additional acquisition project for Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft. Korean Air plans to participate in the upcoming AEW&C aircraft modification work in partnership with the U.S. aerospace company L3Harris.

On the 1st, in celebration of Armed Forces Day, E737 Peace Eye P-3C performed formation flying at the 71st Armed Forces Day event held at Daegu Air Force Base (11th Fighter Wing). / Daegu = Photo by Joint Press Corps

Currently, the Air Force operates four AEW&C aircraft called "Peace Eye," which were introduced in 2011. Known as the "command post in the sky," the Peace Eye was created by modifying Boeing's E-737 civilian aircraft. It performs missions such as monitoring the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ), including our airspace, identifying friend or foe of aircraft and ships, and command and control operations. The Peace Eye measures 33.6 meters in length, 12.5 meters in height, and 34.3 meters in width, with a maximum takeoff weight of 77.6 tons.

The Peace Eye is equipped with the latest multifunctional electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and electronic equipment. It flies at a maximum speed of Mach 0.85 and can remain at an altitude of 10 km for over 8 hours, simultaneously detecting 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.

However, as the KADIZ expanded southward toward Ieodo, the Air Force's mission airspace has widened, and with North Korea accelerating its nuclear development, the need for signal intelligence detection against the North has increased, raising calls for additional AEW&C aircraft acquisition. Although there were suggestions that acquiring more of the same model would be operationally efficient, continuous discovery of discontinued parts and defects in the currently operated Peace Eye aircraft has led to consideration of other models.

For this reason, the overseas defense company L3Harris is actively involved in the additional AEW&C acquisition project. They have proposed delivering to our military the Global 6500 (G6500) business jet equipped with Israel Aerospace Industries' state-of-the-art radar. Korean Air is expected to handle the modification of the AEW&C aircraft directly purchased by our military through L3Harris. Furthermore, Korean Air plans to participate in the entire domestic production process, including parts mass production and training for actual operational personnel. Industry experts evaluate that if Korean Air takes charge of the modification project, the localization rate of AEW&C aircraft could increase in the future.

There is also a foreign competitor, Saab's GlobalEye. The biggest advantage of GlobalEye is that a single aircraft is designed to simultaneously detect thousands of targets across land, sea, and air domains. 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 sea surface. It is considered suitable as a response capability to threats in the air and sea around the Korean Peninsula, such as Japan's patrol aircraft low-altitude threat flights and North Korea's illegal maritime transshipment.

However, inside and outside the military, there are calls to increase the number of additional AEW&C aircraft acquisitions. Purchasing two aircraft first by 2027 and then buying two more would cost 2.5734 trillion won, but buying four at once would cost 2.316 trillion won, saving about 257.3 billion won in taxes.