Boeing has tapped South Korea’s Hanwha Systems to provide the Eagle Large Area Display (ELAD) for South Korea’s F-15K and the US Air Force’s F-15EX Eagle II.
Hanwha hails the supply contract as its first export of digital avionics gear, noting that the award stems from its efforts to play a greater role the supply chains of major international aerospace companies.
According to Hanwha, ELAD combines information from multiple screens into a single large screen.
“Pilots can intuitively view necessary information on a single screen and transmit commands to the mission computer via a touch-based interface,” says Hanwha.
“The operational concept is considered a key element in the cockpit environment of the latest fighter jets.”
A conceptual video released by Boeing in November shows how the back-seat crew of an F-15EX could use the Eagle II’s touchscreen display to monitor and task uncrewed support fighters, such as Boeing’s own MQ-28 Ghost Bat.
The contract with Hanwha follows a memorandum of understanding between Boeing and South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration in November 2024, where the two parties agreed to expand local participation in South Korea’s F-15K upgrade programme.
Seoul is undertaking a major upgrade programme for its F-15K ‘Slam Eagles’, which will see the jets receive a new active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, new mission computer, a new electronic warfare suite, and other improvements.
Hanwha is also a major supplier for the Korea Aerospace Industries KF-21 fighter, which is due to enter Republic of Korea Air Force service in late 2026. In addition to providing the fighter’s multi-function display (MFD), it also provides the mission computer, infrared search and track sensor, electro-optical targeting pod, as well as the AESA radar.
Hanwha adds that the ELAD for the F-15EX is based on the MFD it developed for the KF-21.
“The export of the large-screen multi-function display is significant in itself because it demonstrates that the technology and quality of Hanwha Systems’ avionics equipment has been recognized in the US mainland market,” says the company.
“Based on cooperation with the government and the DAPA, we will further expand business opportunities in the global avionics market, including the US market. We will continue to advance Hanwha Systems’ ELAD technology so that it can be utilized in future US F-15 upgrades and global new fighter projects, including the ROKAF’s F-15K performance improvement project.”
The traditional supplier of cockpit displays for the F-15 is Israel’s Elbit Systems.
