Article Posted on : - Sep 22, 2011

Peace Eye 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft. A Boeing photo.

ROKAF BASE GIMHAE, S KOREA (BNS): The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) has received its first Peace Eye 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft.

A team led by Boeing delivered the aircraft on Wednesday during a ceremony attended by officials from the ROKAF, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), the South Korean and US governments, industry partners at ROKAF Base Gimhae, the main operating base for the Peace Eye fleet.

Korean Aerospace Industries in Sacheon will deliver three additional Peace Eye aircraft to the ROKAF in 2012.

The Peace Eye program includes four 737 AEW&C aircraft plus ground support segments for mission crew training, mission support and system maintenance, a Boeing statement said.

The 737 AEW&C aircraft is designed to provide airborne battle-management capability with advanced multirole electronically scanned radar and 10 state-of-the-art mission crew consoles that are able to track airborne and maritime targets simultaneously.

The mission crew can direct offensive and defensive forces while maintaining continuous surveillance of the operational area. The 737 AEW&C aircraft is based on the Boeing Next-Generation 737-700 commercial airplane. The aircraft are also in production for the governments of Australia and Turkey.