Technically South Korea is still at war with North Korea, providing the perfect excuse to test the operational capabilities of its military planes. Recently reporters were invited to view a F-4E Phantom fighter being tested in a state of the art climatic chamber at an air force R&D center in Seosan.
South Korea, with 25th largest population in the world, has the 6th largest army in the world, one place behind North Korea. WIth stats like that the air force would have had no trouble raising the aprox $53 million USD needed to create the extreme weather conditions required by the aerospace test center. The pictures of the frozen plane alone seem to have validated the projects costs in most peoples minds.
The Korean defense ministry proudly demonstrated the process of a snow and freezing rain test at the 188,000-square-metre facility. The F-4 is one of the most famous fighter aircraft in the world, having been used in large numbers by the air forces of many western nations. The jet was developed by as a private venture by McDonnell and first flew in 1958. Some reported joked that such an old plane was being used to demonstrate Korea’s high level of technology, but of course should something go wrong on the tests its better to ruin a relativly worhtless jet then one thats worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Tags: aerospace test center, Air Force, Asia, F-4E Phantom, Fighter Jet, Korea, korea aerospace test center, Korean, Korean Air Force, Phantom, Phantom Fighter Jet, R&D, Research And Development, Research Center, Seosan, South Korea, South Korean Air Force
