South Korea · Government / Military · Formed 1 October 1949
Went to war nine months after it was founded, with no combat aircraft of its own, and now builds its own fighter.
The ROKAF was established on 1 October 1949 with a couple of dozen liaison and trainer aircraft and nothing that could fight. When the North invaded on 25 June 1950 it had to be armed in a matter of days: the first F-51D Mustangs were handed over at Taegu that July and flown by Korean pilots almost immediately, some of whom had converted onto the type in a week. F-86F Sabres followed from 1955 and the service spent the Cold War as one of the most heavily equipped air arms in Asia, facing an opponent a few minutes' flying time away.
That proximity still drives it. The modern force flies F-35As, F-15Ks and a large fleet of KF-16s, backed by an indigenous industry that grew out of licence assembly into design: Korea Aerospace Industries built the T-50 supersonic trainer, now exported widely, and flew the KF-21 Boramae fighter for the first time in July 2022. The Black Eagles display team flies the T-50B.
Gyeryongdae, South Chungcheong Province, South Korea
