Suwon Air Base 수원공군기지 Suwon Gonggun Kige Suwon Konggun Kige | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Airport type | Military/Public | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner/Operator | Republic of Korea Air Force | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Suwon | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 88 ft / 26.8 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 37°14′08″N127°00′34″E / 37.23556°N 127.00944°E | ||||||||||||||||||
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  Suwon Air Base  Suwon Air Base  Suwon Air Base  Suwon Air Base | |||||||||||||||||||
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Suwon Air Base( IATA : SWU, ICAO : RKSW) is a Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) base near Suwon city.
The base is home to the ROKAF's 10th Fighter Wing (제10전투비행단), comprising:
The US ARMY 6th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment operating Patriot missiles is stationed at the base. [1]
The base was originally established during the Korean War as Suwon (K-13) Air Base and hosted United States Air Force units. [2]
The base was evacuated on the night of 30 June 1950 in the face of the Korean People's Army (KPA) attack, but the base was not occupied by the KPA until 2 July 1950. [3] : 34
The base was recaptured on 24 September 1950 following the Inchon landings. [3] : 161 The 811th Engineer Aviation Battalion arrived at the base on 1 October to repair the airfield and laid down PSP over the runway. [3] : 179
The base was evacuated in the face of the Chinese Third Phase Campaign on 5 January 1951 and the base's buildings were destroyed. [3] : 279 The base was recaptured on 28 January as part of Operation Thunderbolt [3] : 293 and by 6 March, despite its poor condition, the base was used for the staging of F-86 patrols along the Yalu River and Mig Alley. [3] : 295
USAF units based at Suwon included:
On 17 June 1951, at 01:10 hours, Suwon was bombed by two Korean People's Air Force Polikarpov Po-2s. Each biplane dropped a pair of fragmentation bombs. Two bombs burst on the flight line of the 335th Fighter Squadron. One F-86A, AF Ser. No. 49-1334 was struck on the wing and began burning; the fire took hold, gutting the aircraft. Eight other Sabres were also damaged in the attack. [4]
On 22 December 1952, a Hellenic Air Force C-47D, Ser. No. 49-2612 was taxiing at Suwon Air Base when it was hit by USAF F-80, AF Ser. No. 49-0722, that was taking off, killing all 13 on board the C-47. [5]
USAF units based at Suwon included:
On 10 October 1984, a corporately-owned Northrop F-20 Tigershark, AF Ser. No. 82-0062, c/n GG1001, FAA registration N4416T, on a world sales tour, crashed at Suwon, killing Northrop chief test pilot Darrell Cornell. During the last manoeuvre of the final demonstration flight, the aircraft stalled at the top of an erratic vertical climb and dove into the ground from 1,800 feet (550 m). [6] [7]
On 23 May 1996, Korean People's Air Force Captain Lee Chul-Su defected in Shenyang J-6 #529, landing at Suwon. [8]
On 5 May 2006 Captain Kim Do-hyun of the ROKAF's Black Eagles display team was killed when he lost control of his A-37B Dragonfly during an air show. [9]
On 11 January 2022, Major Shim Jeong min from ROKAF's 10th Fighter Wing was killed due to engine fire in his KF-5E during training. He stayed in jet to avoid crashing into nearby village.
The Northrop F-5 is a family of supersonic light fighter aircraft initially designed as a privately funded project in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. There are two main models, the original F-5A and F-5B Freedom Fighter variants and the extensively updated F-5E and F-5F Tiger II variants. The design team wrapped a small, highly aerodynamic fighter around two compact and high-thrust General Electric J85 engines, focusing on performance and a low cost of maintenance. Smaller and simpler than contemporaries such as the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, the F-5 cost less to procure and operate, making it a popular export aircraft. Though primarily designed for a day air superiority role, the aircraft is also a capable ground-attack platform. The F-5A entered service in the early 1960s. During the Cold War, over 800 were produced through 1972 for US allies. Though at the time the United States Air Force (USAF) did not have a need for a light fighter, it did procure approximately 1,200 Northrop T-38 Talon trainer aircraft, which was based on Northrop's N-156 fighter design.
The Korean War was significant in the fact that it was the first war in which the newly independent United States Air Force was involved.
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The Northrop F-20 Tigershark is a light fighter, designed and built by Northrop. Its development began in 1975 as a further evolution of Northrop's F-5E Tiger II, featuring a new engine that greatly improved overall performance, and a modern avionics suite including a powerful and flexible radar. Compared with the F-5E, the F-20 was much faster, gained beyond-visual-range air-to-air capability, and had a full suite of air-to-ground modes capable of utilizing most U.S. weapons. With these improved capabilities, the F-20 became competitive with contemporary fighter designs such as the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, but was much less expensive to purchase and operate.
The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Soviet MiG-15 in high-speed dogfights in the skies of the Korean War (1950–1953), fighting some of the earliest jet-to-jet battles in history. Considered one of the best and most important fighter aircraft in that war, the F-86 is also rated highly in comparison with fighters of other eras. Although it was developed in the late 1940s and was outdated by the end of the 1950s, the Sabre proved versatile and adaptable and continued as a front-line fighter in numerous air forces.
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Kunsan K-8 Air Base(군산공군기지) is a United States Air Force base located at Gunsan Airport, on the west coast of the South Korean peninsula bordered by the Yellow Sea. It is located in the town of Gunsan, about 180 kilometres (110 mi) south of Seoul.
The Republic of Korea Air Force, also known as the ROK Air Force or South Korean air force, is the aerial warfare service branch of South Korea, operating under the South Korean Ministry of National Defense.
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain . This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain . This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Air Force
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