Editing Republic of Korea Armed Forces (section)

===ROK Air Force===
{{main|Republic of Korea Air Force}}


The ROK Air Force (ROKAF) maintains a modern air and space force in order to defend itself from various modes of threats, including the [[Korean People's Army|North Korean Army]]. The ROK Air Force fields some 450 combat aircraft of American design. In contrast, the North Korean Army has roughly 650 combat aircraft, but mostly obsolete types of Soviet and Chinese origin.

Korea began a program for the development of indigenous jet trainers beginning in 1997. This project eventually culminated in the [[KAI T-50 Golden Eagle|KAI T-50]], dubbed the "Golden Eagle" which is used as a trainer for jet pilots, now being exported to Indonesia. A multirole all-weather version of the T-50 is the modified [[KAI T-50 Golden Eagle|FA-50]], which can be externally fitted with [[Rafael Advanced Defense Systems|Rafael]]'s Sky Shield or LIG Nex1's ALQ-200K ECM pods, [[Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod|Sniper]] or [[Litening|LITENING targeting pods]], and Condor 2 reconnaissance pods to further improve the fighter's electronic warfare, reconnaissance, and targeting capabilities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bemil.chosun.com/nbrd/files/BEMIL105/upload/2005/10/A-50%20%B9%AB%C0%E5%20%284%29_1.jpg|title=Sniper Targeting Pod for FA-50}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bemil.chosun.com/nbrd/files/BEMIL105/upload/2005/10/A-50%20%B9%AB%C0%E5%20%287%29_1.jpg|title=Condor 2 Reconnaissance Pod for FA-50}}</ref> Other improved weapon systems over FA-50 include [[Spice (bomb)|SPICE]] multifunctional guidance kits,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bemil.chosun.com/nbrd/files/BEMIL105/upload/2005/10/A-50%20%B9%AB%C0%E5%20%281%29_1.jpg|title=Rafael SPICE 1000 Guided Bomb}}</ref> Textron [[CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon|CBU-97/105 Sensor Fuzed Weapon]] with [[Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser|WCMD]] tail kits, [[Joint Direct Attack Munition|JDAM]], and [[JDAM#JDAM Extended Range|JDAM-ER]] for more comprehensive air-to-ground operations, and [[AIM-120 AMRAAM|AIM-120]] missiles for [[Beyond-visual-range missile|BVR]] air-to-air operations.<ref name=FA-50>[http://bemil.chosun.com/nbrd/data/10040/upfile/201009/20100925140812_2.jpg FA-50 Expanded Weapons and Avionics]. bemil.chosun.com. Retrieved on 2011-06-05.</ref> FA-50 has provisions for, but does not yet integrate, [[Python (missile)|Python]] and Derby missiles, also produced by Rafael, and other anti-ship missiles, stand-off weapons, and sensors to be domestically developed by Korea.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bemil.chosun.com/nbrd/files/BEMIL105/upload/2005/10/A-50%20%B9%AB%C0%E5%20%286%29_1.jpg|title=AMRAAM and Derby for FA-50}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bemil.chosun.com/nbrd/files/BEMIL105/upload/2005/10/A-50%20%B9%AB%C0%E5%20%2814%29.jpg|title=Python 5 and New Weapons Developed by Korea for FA-50}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flightglobal.com/in-focus-south-korea-outlines-strategy-for-indigenous-fighter/102720.article|title=IN FOCUS: South Korea outlines strategy for indigenous fighter|publisher=Flight Global|date=27 October 2011|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024011658/https://www.flightglobal.com/in-focus-south-korea-outlines-strategy-for-indigenous-fighter/102720.article|archivedate=24 October 2020|accessdate=20 September 2023|author=Stephen Trimble}}</ref>

The Republic of Korea Air Force also expressed interests in acquiring the [[Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk|RQ-4 Global Hawk]] and [[Joint Direct Attack Munition]] kits to further improve their intelligence and offensive capabilities.

The replacement programs for the [[McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II|F-4D/E]] and [[Northrop F-5|F-5A/B/E/F]] are the KTX-2 and [[Republic of Korea Air Force#Current Major Projects|F-X]], respectively. The latter has been fulfilled by the Boeing [[McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle|F-15K]].<ref>{{cite press release
 |title       = Boeing F-15K Selected by the Republic of Korea as F-X Fighter
 |publisher   = [[Boeing]]
 |date        = 2002-04-19
 |url         = http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2002/q2/nr_020419m.html
 |access-date  = 2007-03-02
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070204002928/http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2002/q2/nr_020419m.html
 |archive-date = 2007-02-04
}}</ref>

The South Korean government also announced its plan to develop domestic helicopter manufacturing to replace the aging [[Bell UH-1 Iroquois|UH-1]] helicopters, many of which had seen service during the [[Vietnam War]]. The program originally included plans to develop both a civilian and a military helicopter. This was later revised and gave priority to the utility helicopter program. Based on the success and experience of the civilian KMH (Korean Multi-purpose Helicopter), an attack helicopter with a shared configuration is planned to be developed.