RoKAF F-16C block 52
#93-078 from the 20th FW is taking off in full blaze for another training sortie.
The 120th FS was established in 1997 at Seosan AB to accept its batch of the newly build block 52 airframes under the Peace Bridge II contract. These block 52 airframes are locally known as KF-16. The squadron was the first of four to equip the newly formed 20th FW. These airframes were the first to be assembled in South Korea entirely by Samsung aerospace.
All RoKAF F-16 squadrons have a dual tasking. In the first place they are equipped with A/A missiles as the AIM-9 and AIM-120 to defend the Korean peninsula against attacks from the north. Secondly they have a dedicated ground-attack mission. Their main equipment for this mission is the LANTIRN targeting pod together with the AGM-65 Maverick missile. This equipment is chosen to counter massive North Korean tank attacks. Furthermore these F-16s are equipped with the advanced ALQ-165 ECM system which is a fully internal passive and active counter measures system. Therefore these aircraft don’t need an external ECM jammer.
More details on the equipment of the RoKAF F-16s is yet unknown, but it may be accepted that more advanced weapon systems have been introduced on the platform in the past and will be in the future.
