Seoul Air Show 2005, 5th biennial international aerospace and defense exhibition, was held at Seoul Airport in Seongnam, South Korea between Oct.18 and 23. With the participation of 225 companies from 24 countries and recording 1.12 billion on-site deals signed before closing, this year's exhibition was the largest and most successful in its nine year history. Top on the agenda was first two Boeing F-15Ks from first production batch disclosed to public. Born out of F-X program to acquire next generation multi-role fighter for ROKAF, F-15K was finalized after fierce competition with Rafale, Typhoon and Su-35 and contract with Boeing for 40 F-15Ks was made in 2002. Two F-15Ks straight from Boeing St. Louis facilities flew over the Pacific via Hawaii and island of Guam, being refuelled 6 times by USAF KC-10 tanker and landed at Seoul Airport with over 20 flight hours. Mighty F-15Ks will reinforce ROKAF KF-16C, F-16C and F-4E fighters with considerably longer combat radius and heavier, more advanced armaments like JDAM, SLAM-ER, AMRAAM and AIM-9X.

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By courtesy of Monthly Aerospace Korea

Two brand new aircraft developed and manufactured by local aerospace manufacturer KAI (Korea Aerospace Industries) were center of public attention throughout exhibition and flight demos. Highly polished KAI T-50 supersonic advanced trainer and KT-1 basic trainer were surrounded by flashlights of media corps in pavilion A. T-50 advanced trainer and lead-in-fighter had been co-developed by KAI and Lockheed Martin to replace aging fleet of T-38s and T-59s (BAe Hawks) in ROKAF. Featuring digital fly-by-wire for precision maneuver, variable camber wing with strakes, HUD, MFD, HOTAS at speed of Mach 1.4, T-50 facilitates pilots' rapid transfer to 4th and 5th generation fighters such as F-16 block 60 plus, Typhoon, Rafale, Gripen, F-22 and F-35. As current jet trainers from '50s and '60s are approaching limit of service life, both KIA and Lockheed Martin expect robust sales in international trainer market. UAE, Greece and a few other Middle East countries showed interest in purchasing T-50s after Dubai Air Show 2005 where T-50 made its successful international debut. UAE was most enthusiastic over the purchase of 40 to 60 T-50s as advanced trainer/lead-in-fighter in near future. A-50 light attack fighter based on T-50 was evaluated by KAI and will be in service with ROKAF for close air support with phase-out of old F-5Es. ROKAF has operated indigenous KT-1s as basic trainer since 2000 and acquired over a hundred KT-1s. A small number of KT-1s saw first export to Indonesia in recent years. KO-1 forward airborne controller evolved from KT-1  can be armed with conventional weapons and has light strike and COIN capability. A number of  Latin American and Southeast Asian nations are negotiating with KAI on sales of KT-1 and KO-1. Another luck favored KAI in the exhibition as Airbus S.A.S. nominated KAI as co-developement partner of A350.

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By courtesy of Defence Korea		By courtesy of KAI	By courtesy of http://bemil.chosun.com

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Behind local manufacturers' area in pavilion A, huge 1:1 scale A380 cabin mockup towered over Airbus booth. Cutaway passenger cabin open to visitors was a very popular attraction in indoor hall. Endless lines of foreign exhibitor booths and shells continued through hall E and major US, Canadian and Israeli companies were ahead of others. The $1.9 billion E-X program to procure four airborne surveillance aircraft for ROKAF stirred silent tension between US and Israeli companies because Boeing and IAI became last contenders in last phase of E-X. Boeing's E-737 with Northrop Grumman Mesa radar was proven AEW & C solution adopted by Australian and Turkish air forces. Whereas Israeli's IAI-Elta proposed  compact and less costly G-550 combining Gulfstream airframe and Elta Phalcon radar. Eurocopter, Augusta-Westland and Bell-Textron put newest helicopter models on display with KHP in mind. KHP is another big ticket local procurement program to replace aging military helicopters with new generation machines. Raytheon proudly displayed whole range of leading products, i.e., JSOW, Maverick, Paveway II, AMRAAM, AIM-9X, HARM, Stinger, Hellfire, Javelin and up-to-date LANTIRN pod. In last hall E, US Embassy Aerospace Executive Service (AES) and AMCHAM (American Chamber of Commerce) Korea offered a resting area and small bar for corporate staffs to have a break and relax out of crowded hall. Quite an American touch!  Many US and Korean aircraft were displayed out on runway. RAAF E-737 Wedgetail and Lockeed Martin F-35 full-size mockup were  most popular attractions in static display area. F-35 was the only 5th generation fighter in the exhibition and many foreign and local visitors gathered around F-35 out of curiosity and climbed ladder up to look into future fighter's cockpit

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By courtesy of http://bemil.chosun.com

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By courtesy of http://bemil.chosun.com

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Local aerospace news and products dominated Seoul Air Show this year but  European and Russian presence was minor compared to past exhibitions. Daily flight demo was a big part of Seoul Air Show as in the past. Unfortunately I could not see much of flights due to bad weather. I especially missed flights of ROKAF Black Eagles Cessna A-37Bs, T-50 and USAF U-2S. Though I happened to be lucky enough to watch the FAA world Grand Prix champion and Sukhoi test pilot Jurgis Kairys' splendid aerobatic in his Su-31. Once I spotted a little Su-31 in distant runway, Su-31 in Jurgis' unique silver and white scheme quickly sprang into air after an extremely short take-off run and presented us with exquisite and delightful maneuvers for 15 minutes. While on the venue on 20th and 21st, I thoroughly enjoyed everything and so did many visitors as astounding 200,000 public visitors came to the venue during the 6 days. I definately will be back in 2007 and look forward to F-22 and Typhoon.  

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By courtesy of http://bemil.chosun.com	By courtesy of Monthly Aerospace Korea	By courtesy of http://bemil.chosun.com

Links to local sources are below.

• - Korea Aerospace Industries (Leading aerospace manufacturer in S. Korea), http://www.koreaaero.com/english/main/main.php

• - Boeing Korea, http://www.boeingkorea.co.kr/

• - Monthly Aerospace Korea (Best local aerospace magazine), http://www.wasco.co.kr/ 

•  - Defence Korea(Popular defense webzine), http://www.defence.co.kr/  

• - http://bemil.chosun.com (Top defense-mailtary webzine in S. Korea) 

 Jay

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