Korean Air’s Military Maintenance Business

USAF, Kunsan AB(click to view full) Sometimes, the nice thing to do as an ally is also the fiscally smart thing. Take military maintenance, for example. If your fighters are based in an allied country that flies the same aircraft, and that country has already set up depot-level maintenance for them, why duplicate that infrastructure in-theater, or ferry your planes back home for in-depth work? Instead, hand the contract to the firm(s) doing this work for your ally. This helps strengthen the alliance, encourages allies to buy from you in future, and saves money. That’s why national passenger carrier Korean Air performs depot-level maintenance on F-4 Phantoms (currently ROKAF only), F-15 Eagles (ROKAF, USAF), and F-16 Falcons (ROKAF, USAF), where Korean expertise is deepest. They were the first non-US air force to fly the F-16C/D, with approximately 180 block 30 and block 52 (KF-16) “Victory Falcon” aircraft in the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF). They moved a mountain to become the 5th country with an F-16 production line (no, really – they moved one), with Samsung is the prime contractor, Daewoo as a major subcontractor, and Korean Air signed on for maintenance… Contracts & Key Events July 13/07: Korean […]