Peace Eye Unit 2 Undergoes Maintenance for 200 Days a Year

National Defense Committee Seol Hoon's Audit Data... Average Annual Maintenance Days for 4 Peace Eye Units: 100
Price Increase for Additional 4 Peace Eye Units Planned, "Project Needs Reconsideration"

Air Force E-737 Peace Eye and F-15K formations participating in the patrol flight conducted by the Air Force to welcome the New Year 2016 are flying. (Photo by the Air Force)

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] It has been revealed that the second E-737 ‘Peace Eye’ airborne control and warning aircraft operated by the Republic of Korea Air Force, manufactured by Boeing in the United States, was under maintenance for more than 200 days a year and was unable to be deployed for missions for about 100 days. Known as the ‘command post in the sky,’ the Peace Eye performs command and control missions including surveillance of our airspace and the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ), identification friend or foe (IFF) of aircraft and ships, and operational command.

According to Assemblyman Seol Hoon of the Democratic Party, a member of the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly, the Air Force introduced four airborne control and warning aircraft in 2011. From 2013 to last year, the average annual maintenance days per aircraft was about 100 days. The second aircraft had the longest maintenance period (101 days), followed by the first (99 days), fourth (93 days), and third (85 days). In 2017, the second aircraft was under maintenance for 239 days, meaning it was operational for less than 100 days that year.

The operating and maintenance costs of the airborne control and warning aircraft have exceeded the original purchase price. The cost of maintaining four aircraft over ten years amounted to 560 billion KRW, which is more expensive than the price of one aircraft (400 billion KRW). Notably, most of the maintenance costs (99.5%) were paid to Boeing, while the amount paid to domestic companies (0.05%) was negligible.

The future is problematic. In July, the military initially planned to acquire two additional airborne control and warning aircraft by 2027 under the ‘Second Airborne Control and Warning Aircraft Project Basic Strategy,’ but this was changed to acquiring four additional aircraft. Subsequently, the Ministry of National Defense’s Requirements Verification Committee decided to proceed with the additional acquisition as a ‘bulk purchase of four aircraft,’ and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration is expected to actively promote the project based on this decision.

However, the price of the airborne control and warning aircraft has increased. According to a feasibility study conducted when the military decided to acquire two additional aircraft, the acquisition price was set at 2.3052 trillion KRW (1.1526 trillion KRW per aircraft). This is 44.1% (705.9 billion KRW) higher than the initial budget of 1.5993 trillion KRW.

Assemblyman Seol Hoon said, “The operating costs for four airborne control and warning aircraft over ten years amounted to the price of 1.5 aircraft,” and added, “We need to review whether it is appropriate to upgrade the performance again after ten years and purchase additional aircraft at a cost of 1 trillion KRW each.”

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