South Korean KF-16s Accidentally Bomb City
6 March, 2025 Pocheon immediately after the air bombs fell, Pocheon, South Korea, March 6, 2025. Photo: Yonhap In South Korea, fighter jets unintentionally dropped eight 230-kilogram bombs on a city with thousands of residents, as reported by the Korean newspaper Yonhap.
Around 10:00 a.m., South Korean Air Force KF-16 fighter jets inadvertently released eight Mk82 bombs beyond the training range, striking civilian homes in Pocheon during a joint US-Korea military exercise. The strike reportedly caused damage to seven buildings, including a church, with four individuals suffering serious injuries and three others sustaining minor injuries. Following the incident, South Korean officials initially attributed the event to an accidental launch of weapons outside the designated firing zone. However, this explanation seems inconsistent with the scale of the bombing that affected the city.
The KF-16 fighter jets are South Korean versions of the F-16 fighters, capable of carrying up to six 230-kilogram bombs when fully loaded. However, in combat configurations, these aircraft typically carry no more than 2 to 4 bombs of this type at a time. Given the above, we can conclude that at least two aircraft dropped the bombs, which excludes pilot error and indicates a general problem with targeting.
The incorrect type of munitions indicated by the Korean press services cannot be ruled out either, as the same KF-16s can carry eight GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb bombs.
An American F-16 with GBU-39/B bomb pylons in the sky over Iraq, December 2016. Photo credits: DVIDS
Militarnyi previously reported that the Philippine Air Force had lost an FA-50 combat aircraft during a combat mission as part of an anti-insurgency operation against communist militants. The plane, which, according to initial information, was classified as missing after disappearing from radar screens, was later found with two dead pilots.
A preliminary investigation confirmed that the plane crashed as a result of pilot error, and no external air defense influence was detected.