Boeing has announced that it has delivered the third Peace Eye 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft to the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF). The delivery took place 16 May, 2012, and according to Boeing, came ahead of schedule.
The aircraft will be operated from ROKAF Base Gimhae, the main operating base for the Peace Eye fleet. This is the second aircraft in the fleet to be modified into an AEW&C configuration by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) at its facility in Sacheon.
The Peace Eye programme includes four 737 AEW&C aircraft, plus ground support segments for mission crew training, mission support and system maintenance. Boeing said that the last Peace Eye aircraft being modified by KAI will be delivered to the ROKAF by the end of this year.
The 737 AEW&C aircraft is designed to provide ‘airborne-battle-management capability with an advanced multirole electronically scanned radar and state-of-the-art mission crew consoles that are able to track airborne and maritime targets simultaneously’, according to the company. The mission crew can direct offensive and defensive forces while maintaining continuous surveillance of the operational area.