Text Fwd: Korea to Develop F-16 Simulators

Korea Times
08-07-2009 21:00
Korea to Develop F-16 Simulators
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

South Korea will develop a dozen of its own F-16/KF-16 fighter flight simulators by 2014 as part of efforts to help pilots keep up with fighter upgrades and conduct sustainable flight training amid high oil prices, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) Friday.

The agency awarded Korea Aerospace Industries, the country's only aircraft maker, a 130-billion won ($106 million) contract to develop up-to-date flight simulators and unit training devices for F-16/KF-16 pilots, as well as upgrade existing simulation systems, DAPA officials said.

Previously, airmen used flight simulators developed by Raytheon.

The new systems will help pilots train skills in tactical flight, landings and take-offs, and emergency landings, the officials said.

Production will begin after the development of the new simulators is completed by November 2014, they said.

``Once entering service, the new simulators are expected to not only help resolve the shortage of flight trainings for pilots, resulting from high oil prices, but also improve pilots' aircraft operational capabilities to an extent,'' a DAPA official said.

The Air Force operates an older fleet of 34 Block 32 F-16s purchased in the 1980s and a newer fleet of 135 KF-16s manufactured locally to the Block 52 standard from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s.

Earlier this year, the Air Force unveiled plans to upgrade its KF-16 fighters. The upgrades will include arming the aircrafts with precision-guided JoJoint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) and other guided weapons.

Another key upgrade will be a replacement for the fighter's radar systems.

jsungki@defensenews.com