South Korea looking at STOVL aircraft carrier; S-3 Vikings

U.S. Navy S-3 Viking. (U.S. Navy Photo

South Korea is reported to have carried out a feasibility study to equip its navy with a small aircraft carrier capable of operating Short Take Off and Vertical Landing aircraft in the near future. It is also reported to have put a priority on purchasing ex-U.S. Navy S-3 Vikings retired in 2009.

Sounds like this is a good time to bring up my earlier look at the recent emergence of flat-tops in the Asia Pacific region.

PS. Another future operator of the F-35B in the making? Lockheed-Martin must have been licking its chops when this piece of news broke.

South Korean P-3CK upgrade completed in October

It has been revealed that the upgrading of eight ex-US Navy P-3B Orions by South Korea's Korean Aircraft Industries into P-3CK standard was completed in October 2010. The Republic of Korea Navy's 16-strong Orion fleet operates from bases in Pohang and Jeju Island.