A build up of South Korea’s air capabilities continues with the country’s Air Force receiving its last batch of F-15K Strike Fighters from Boeing:

The Air Force received its last batch of three F-15K fighters Wednesday from Boeing in the United States under the 40-plane first-phase F-X program to introduce 120 high-end multi-role combat aircraft, Air Force officials said.

With this latest addition the Air Force has a total of 39 F-15K aircraft, since a unit crashed in the waters off Pohang, some 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, during a night mission in June 2006.

The three F-15Ks were delivered to the Air Force’s 122 squadron of the 11th Fighter Wing based in Daegu, they said.

“With the gradual delivery of F-15Ks since October 2005, a F-15K squadron has been fully operational since July 1. Another squadron will enter service early next year after pilots undergo related training programs,” an Air Force spokesman said.

In 2002, Boeing’s F-15K Eagle was selected for the 40-plane, $4.2 billion first phase of the F-X project. South Korea signed with Boeing over the $2.3 billion, 21-plane second phase F-X program early this year. The U.S. aircraft giant is to hand over the aircraft between 2010 and 2012 under the contract.  [Korea Times]

Korea is scheduled to retake wartime control of its military from the United States in 2012 and over the past few years Korea has been modernizing its military in preparation for taking more responsibility for their own defense.

The F-15K is actually a pretty nice plane and upgrade for the ROK Air Force:

Flight and Weapon Systems

The F-15K is the only U.S.-produced fighter capable of long-range precision strike missions without escort, day or night, in any weather.

• Maximum gross takeoff weight and payload: 81,000 pounds and 23,000 pounds
• Maximum combat radius without refueling: over 1,000 nautical miles (1,800 km)
• Minimum altitude and maximum speed of terrain-following flight: 600 knots at 100 feet
• Power: two GE F110 turbofan engines (29,000 lb thrust class with afterburning)
• A mix of air-to-air weaponry: 20mm cannon; AIM-120, AIM-9, AIM-7, and AGM-130 missiles
• A mix of air-to-ground ordnance, including precision-guided munitions

Computer and Targeting Systems

The F-15K possesses advanced computer, display, protection, radar, and targeting systems:

• Avionics suite: Honeywell advanced display core processor (ADCP)
• Cockpit-display technologies: seven-color liquid-crystal displays, two upfront control panels (flat-panel), joint helmet-mounted cueing system (JHMCS), and wide-field-of-view head-up display
• On-board protection systems: BAE Systems ALR-56C(v)1 early warning receiver and Northrop Grumman ALQ-135M jammer
• Radar: Raytheon AN/APG-63(v)1 radar:
  • Air-to-air and air-to-ground modes of APG-70 radar with additional sea-surface searching/tracking, ground-moving target tracking, and enhanced high-resolution ground mapping for long-distance target identification
  • Improved reliability and maintainability
• Third-generation targeting and navigation systems: forward-looking infrared (FLIR) and infrared search and track (IRST)