Author Topic: Source: South Korea Will Likely Buy F-35  (Read 676 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

SPQR

  • Guest
Source: South Korea Will Likely Buy F-35
« on: November 22, 2013, 02:54:09 am »
South Korea’s military will set new operational requirements and bid procedures for its F-X III fighter jet acquisition program Nov. 22, and an official with the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the F-35 will likely be selected.

The move comes after the contest was nullified in September when the country’s top arms procurement committee voted down a bid by Boeing to supply 60 F-15 Silent Eagle aircraft, citing the “4.5-generation” jet’s lack of radar-evading stealth capability.

“A top decision-making body of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will make a decision on the number of the aircraft to be bought, as well as new required operational capability for the F-X III,” Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters.

Multiple sources said the JCS has already set new requirements focused on enhanced stealth capability, which bolsters the chances of Lockheed Martin winning the $7.8 billion tender with its F-35 conventional takeoff version.

“After the Silent Eagle was voted down, the Air Force asked to buy fighter aircraft with enhanced stealth capabilities,” a JCS official said. “There is no doubt that the F-35 has more advanced stealth functions compared to its competitors.”

Against that backdrop, the spokesman said, the JCS is expected to decide not to open a new competition. Instead, the JCS is to approve a plan to buy F-35s via the US foreign military sale (FMS) program, he added.

Due to budget constraints, the JCS plans to procure about 40 F-35s initially, and 20 more jets could be bought if funding is available.

Once the JCS sets new F-X III requirements and procurement methods, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) will go ahead with procurement procedures early next year, DAPA spokesman Baek Yoon-hyung said.

“We could start FMS negotiations with the US government early next year should the JCS decide to buy F-35s,” said Baek. “Then, the delivery of the aircraft could start as early as in 2018.”

Still, some question the F-35’s high procurement costs and its technical maturity.

“The rub is that the per-unit price could not be guaranteed until the final delivery under the FMS procurement,” Kim Dae-young, a research member of the Korea Defense & Security Forum, a Seoul-based defense think tank. “In addition, there are worries that South Korea will not have a strong leverage in price and offset negotiations under the FMS program.”

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20131121/DEFREG03/311210011/Source-South-Korea-Will-Likely-Buy-F-35

SPQR

  • Guest
Re: Source: South Korea Will Likely Buy F-35
« Reply #1 on: November 22, 2013, 02:55:39 am »
Now comes the part will they deliver the planes on time.

Offline Chieftain

  • AMF, YOYO
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9,621
  • Gender: Male
  • Your what hurts??
Re: Source: South Korea Will Likely Buy F-35
« Reply #2 on: November 22, 2013, 04:30:28 am »
And we can probably expect another nuclear test out of the Norks in protest...


SPQR

  • Guest
Re: Source: South Korea Will Likely Buy F-35
« Reply #3 on: November 22, 2013, 04:41:29 am »
And we can probably expect another nuclear test out of the Norks in protest...

I agree