Korea and Australia to Provide Mutual Aerial Refueling in the Future

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] In the future, when the South Korean and Australian air forces conduct joint exercises, they will support each other's aerial refueling and significantly expand their operational range.

According to the military on the 21st, the air forces of both countries are scheduled to sign a mutual aerial refueling support agreement by the end of this month. The only foreign military with which the South Korean Air Force has previously signed a mutual aerial refueling support agreement was the allied United States. In the past, when conducting training in places like Alaska, the South Korean Air Force received aerial refueling support from the U.S. military.

Once South Korea and Australia conclude the agreement, the air forces of both countries will be able to provide aerial refueling support to each other's military aircraft when necessary. It is known that the need for mutual support was raised during the multinational joint air exercise "Pitch Black," held earlier this month in Australia, where the two militaries conducted joint training.

The Air Force dispatched six KF-16s and one KC-330 multi-purpose aerial refueling transport aircraft together to the Pitch Black exercise held at Darwin and Amberley bases in Australia from the 29th of last month to the 7th of this month. Before the start of Pitch Black, on the 25th of last month, two Australian Air Force F-35As and one KC-30A aerial refueling aircraft flew a friendship flight with the South Korean Air Force at Darwin base, conducting mutual aerial refueling. This was the first time the South Korean Air Force conducted aerial refueling during overseas training.

This agreement is expected to strengthen the Indo-Pacific strategic framework currently being established by the South Korean government. By expanding the cooperative relationship with Australia, a key country in the Indo-Pacific region that shares values such as freedom and democracy, beyond a simple friendly relationship into the realm of military operations, the intention is interpreted as concretizing the Indo-Pacific strategy.

In particular, Australia is regarded as a country that can strengthen security and defense industry cooperation with South Korea in the Indo-Pacific region. Since Australia, like South Korea, has introduced the U.S. F-35A fighter jet, they may share know-how on operating the F-35A in the future.

The location of the first overseas production facility built by a South Korean defense company is also in Australia, where Hanwha Defense is constructing a K-9 self-propelled howitzer factory in Geelong, aiming for completion in 2024. Additionally, the domestically produced Redback armored vehicle participated in the final test evaluation of the Australian Army's state-of-the-art tracked infantry fighting vehicle acquisition project (LAND 400 Phase 3) and received favorable reviews, indicating significant potential for expanded cooperation, according to experts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.