By Lee Tae-hoon
Seoul has selected BAE Systems, a multinational defense contractor headquartered in the UK, over U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin to upgrade the nation’s aging KF-16 fighter jets, officials of the state arms procurement agency said Tuesday.
Baek Yoon-hyeong, spokesman for the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), said his agency will send a letter of request to the U.S. government in early August for a U.S. foreign military sale (FMS) of the BAE’s KF-16 upgrade package.
He noted that BAE Systems Inc, the U.S. subsidiary of BAE Systems, is expected to provide a comprehensive upgrade solution, including an advanced fire control system and Link-16, the most widely used airborne tactical data link.
“DAPA is expected to ink the deal with the U.S. government in December this year,” Baek said, adding that the multi-year project calls for upgrading some 130 KF-16 fighters, which were introduced in Korea in the 1990s.
Joe McCabe, president of BAE’s South Korea office, said the strength of his company’s offer was flexibility in terms of technology transfer.
He said BAE would seek the U.S. government’s approval for the sharing of share codes of F-16 flight and weapon control operational flight programs with Korea.
Meanwhile, a DAPA official refuted a media report that Lockheed lost the bid because it demanded $1 billion won for its package, where as BAE system requested only $750 million.
However, he acknowledged that DAPA has decided to defer its decision to select the supplier of an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) for the KF-16. Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are vying for the AESA radar contract.
The official also discounted speculations that the KF-16 upgrade project was closely linked with the country’s plan to purchase 60 advanced jets, in which Lockheed is competing with Boeing and EADS.
“It is totally groundless to claim that Lockheed Martin lost the contract due partly to its arrogant attitude toward DAPA and its demand for Seoul to defer the fighter jet acquisition project for one year,” he said.