The Republic of South Korea Air Force (ROKAF) paid tribute to its last operational F-4E Phantom II, which paraded in front of an elegant Elephant Walk.
The Republic of Korea and the United States are conducting, as they do every year, the 11-day exercise Freedom Shield 2024. The exercise seeks to mirror the Korean Theater of Operations, in a combined, joint, multi-domain, interagency operational environment. The exercise began March 4 and will continue through March 14, 2024.
Freedom Shield 24 will focus on «deterring North Korea’s nuclear threats,» Lee Sung-jun, spokesman for Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week.
On March 8, as part of these military exercises, 33 fighter jets took off from Suwon Air Base (south of Seoul), including F-35A stealth fighters, as well as KF-16s, F-15Ks, F-5Es, FA-50s and eight of the last ten F-4E Phantom II fighters in active service. Being the last time these venerable aircraft will participate in a live-fire exercise, as they will be decommissioned in June this year, the ROKAF honored them by putting them at the forefront of the Elephant Walk.
As can be seen in the video, the F-4E Phantom are heavily armed. Some carry an AGM-142 Have Nap air-to-ground missile (a U.S.-produced version of the Israeli Popeye) and its guidance pod. Others carry Maverik air-to-ground missiles or «dumb» bombs, showing that the role of the South Korean Phantoms at the end of their operational life was ground attack.
Korean Phantom History
The F-4E Phantom II has been a ROKAF stalwart since the late 1960s, when South Korea acquired its first batch of used F-4D Phantoms from the USAF under the «Peace Spectator» program in 1968. Over the years, more F-4Ds were acquired and deliveries continued until 1988. The «Peace Pheasant II» program further strengthened the ROKAF fleet with the introduction of the F-4E model, including factory new and used aircrafts formerly owned by the USAF. A notable fact of this program is that among the F-4Es received by South Korea, aircraft number 78-0744, the last of the 5,057 Phantoms built by McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, could have been delivered.
According to official figures, the ROKAF operated a total of 92 F-4D units, 27 RF-4C reconnaissance units and 103 F-4E units throughout its history. These aircraft played a crucial role in South Korea’s defense strategy, participating in various operations and exercises, both domestic and international.
See also: South Korea seeks to replace its aging F-4 and F-5 fighters as soon as possible
During the 1990s, the South Korean Air Force evaluated a modernization program for 38 F-4Es, but ultimately decided to implement a more economical upgrade package, which included the addition of the ability to fire AGM-142 Have Nap missiles. Most of the ROKAF’s F-4E «Phantom IIs» have already been replaced by the fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-35A «Lightning II» fighter.
