Soaring in the Sky Seoul Air Show 2007
By Jung Sung-ki, ShimHyun-cheol
Staff Reporters
The Seoul Air Show 2007, South Korea’s biennial international aerospace and defense exhibition, kicked off on Tuesday at Seoul Airport, south of Seoul.
A total of 255 domestic and foreign defense firms from 26 nations are participating in the six-day event, showcasing their high-tech aircraft, ground and naval weapons systems, space equipment and full scale mock-ups.
The show, formally known as the Korea Aerospace & Defense Exhibition, was first held in 1996. The third event scheduled for 2000 was delayed to 2001 due to Seoul’s hosting of the Asia Europe Meeting in that year.
About 80 aircraft are on display, including South Korea’s T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer, KT-1 Woongbi basic trainer, KO-1 forward airborne controller, F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets.
Among the foreign aircraft on display are the F-15C and F-16C/D fighters, U.S. Boeing company’s K-135 tanker and an AH-64 Apache helicopters and the EC 225 SAR and the Tiger HAP helicopters of Eurocopter, a subsidiary of EADS.
South Korea’s advanced ground weapons systems are also being showcased. They include the XK2 Black Panther main battle tank and the K2 infantry fighting vehicle built by the state-run Agency for Defense Development, and K-9 Thunder howitzer developed by Samsung Techwin.
South Korean Air Force’s “Black Eagle” acrobatic flight team will perform their last flight with the A-37B Dragonfly aircraft on Sunday.
The show will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday. Price of admission is 9,000 won.
