South Korea's Air Force will kick off an eight-day large-scale biannual air exercise on Friday to enhance its response capabilities against enemy cruise missiles and aircraft incursions.

The Soaring Eagle exercise, led by the Air Force's Air Combat Command, will involve over 60 aircraft, including the F-35A, F-15K, KF-16, FA-50 and F-5 fighter jets, the KA-1 light attack aircraft, and the KC-330 multi-role tanker transport.

The drills will focus on responses to enemy fighter jet and drone incursions, cruise missile firings and preemptive strikes against the point of origin of imminent enemy provocation, including transporter erector launchers(TEL).

The Air Force's Space Operations Squadron will join the exercise for the first time to conduct surveillance of enemy electromagnetic interference, share location of the enemy's electronic jamming devices and to provide accurate global positioning system(GPS) data.

There will also be an exercise involving nighttime aerial refueling.