SEOUL - The South Korean government has set the timeline for a third phase of the F-X fighter procurement.
The program's prospects became unclear last year after the National Assembly rejected the spending plan amid budget constraints, and coastal artillery barrages by North Korean forces upended procurement priorities.
"Consensus has been built up among government and military officials to speed up Air Force modernization not only to respond to North Korea's provocations more effectively, but also not to fall behind regional powers in air superiority," said a Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) spokesman. He was apparently referring to China's recent showcase of the J-20 stealth fighter and Japan's efforts to acquire the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. After the North shelled a South Korean island in November, calls have grown to improve precision-guided airstrike capability to neutralize the North's coastal artillery pieces and other key targets.
Under the new timetable, the spokesman said, the Seoul government is scheduled in December to release the request for proposals for its 10 trillion-won ($9 billion) F-X III contest to acquire as many as 60 stealthy aircraft. The F-X aims to buy 120 foreign fighters by 2020 in stages to replace aging F-4 and F-5 aircraft. In the previous two phases, Seoul bought 60 F-15K aircraft developed by Boeing. The DAPA plans to fix the details of the program, including the required operational capability and the linkage between the F-X III and the KF-X effort to develop an F-16-class indigenous fighter aircraft by April, said the spokesman. Bidder selection is expected by August 2012, he said.
To that end, DAPA may request an additional 15.7 billion won to launch F-X III, he said.
Boeing, the reigning champion of the F-X competition, is offering to sell more F-15Ks fitted with limited stealth capability. The Chicago-based defense giant offers to sell at least 20 more F-15Ks equipped with advanced electronically scanned array radar along with radarabsorbent coatings and external treatments that are applied to the stealthy version of the F-15 Silent Eagle, one industry source said.
The company plans to invite Korean journalists to its facilities in St. Louis from Feb. 20-25, according to the Boeing Korea office.
"We're confident in our ability to deliver aircraft to the Republic of Korea Air Force beginning as early as 2016," said Steve O'Bryan, vice president of Lockheed's F-35 business development.
Still, there is a concern among Korean officials about the multinational F-35 program's cost overruns and the operational risks of adopting an early version of the plane.
Eurofighter officials said South Korea could receive lenient technology transfers for the KFX program if it joins the Typhoon program.
The program's prospects became unclear last year after the National Assembly rejected the spending plan amid budget constraints, and coastal artillery barrages by North Korean forces upended procurement priorities.
"Consensus has been built up among government and military officials to speed up Air Force modernization not only to respond to North Korea's provocations more effectively, but also not to fall behind regional powers in air superiority," said a Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) spokesman. He was apparently referring to China's recent showcase of the J-20 stealth fighter and Japan's efforts to acquire the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. After the North shelled a South Korean island in November, calls have grown to improve precision-guided airstrike capability to neutralize the North's coastal artillery pieces and other key targets.
Under the new timetable, the spokesman said, the Seoul government is scheduled in December to release the request for proposals for its 10 trillion-won ($9 billion) F-X III contest to acquire as many as 60 stealthy aircraft. The F-X aims to buy 120 foreign fighters by 2020 in stages to replace aging F-4 and F-5 aircraft. In the previous two phases, Seoul bought 60 F-15K aircraft developed by Boeing. The DAPA plans to fix the details of the program, including the required operational capability and the linkage between the F-X III and the KF-X effort to develop an F-16-class indigenous fighter aircraft by April, said the spokesman. Bidder selection is expected by August 2012, he said.
To that end, DAPA may request an additional 15.7 billion won to launch F-X III, he said.
Boeing, the reigning champion of the F-X competition, is offering to sell more F-15Ks fitted with limited stealth capability. The Chicago-based defense giant offers to sell at least 20 more F-15Ks equipped with advanced electronically scanned array radar along with radarabsorbent coatings and external treatments that are applied to the stealthy version of the F-15 Silent Eagle, one industry source said.
The company plans to invite Korean journalists to its facilities in St. Louis from Feb. 20-25, according to the Boeing Korea office.
"We're confident in our ability to deliver aircraft to the Republic of Korea Air Force beginning as early as 2016," said Steve O'Bryan, vice president of Lockheed's F-35 business development.
Still, there is a concern among Korean officials about the multinational F-35 program's cost overruns and the operational risks of adopting an early version of the plane.
Eurofighter officials said South Korea could receive lenient technology transfers for the KFX program if it joins the Typhoon program.
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