Korea Overseas Information Service, Two F-15K Strike Fighters made an appearance at Seongnam Air Force Base south of Seoul on Friday (Oct. 7) after a flight time of 20 hours covering 15,962 kilometers from Boeing's St. Louis plant in Missouri, the United States.
The two planes are the first shipment of the 40 aircrafts, worth $5.5 billion, that the Korean Air Force will receive from the American manufacturer by 2008. The F-15Ks will replace the obsolete F-4 Phantoms as the Air Force's next-generation staple fighters by 2011.
En route to Korea from the St. Louis plant, the planes touched down at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, and then at Guam Anderson Base before heading for Seongnam Base. They got midair refueling twice from the U.S. Air Force's KC-135.
The two F-15Ks will debut at the Seoul Air Show to be staged Oct. 18-23 before being formally delivered to the Air Force in November. Two more are scheduled to be delivered by the end of the year, eight by 2006, 16 by 2007 and 12 by 2008.
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