President Lee Myung-bak was reported to have promised to buy U.S. Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 Lightning IIs under the country’s next-generation fighter jet program during a summit meeting with President Barack Obama on Oct. 13 last year.
Controversy has erupted over the feasibility of the program which could cost as much as 14 trillion won.
Critics pointed out that production of F-35 jet fighter has been slowed because of faults detected during test flights. Production of F-35 jet fighter, which was originally scheduled for 2011, has been delayed to 2016. Its capabilities have yet to be verified, they said.
They said it is too early to discuss purchase of F-35. Authorities “can review and discuss it in advance. But it is ridiculous to do it at the moment,” a critic said on condition of anonymity.
Such a situation may cause a corruption scandal involving arms procurement officials. Many are skeptical about the government’s move to buy the F-35, saying that the authorities are pushing the costly arms purchase, while brokers are playing tricks on the program.
The plane is currently in early production. Although the aircraft is imported, controversy over the efficiency of the next- generation fighter jet program is expected to erupt.
According to experts, the early stage of development of jet fighter is called block 0.5. In the block 1.0, the plane is armed “basically.” In the final block 2 stage, it is armed “heavily.”
If the aircraft is on the block 0.5, it can be said that the plane has various defects.
Despite the possibility of the F-35 having defects, the Lee Myung-bak administration was said to be considering buying 20 F-35s based on either block 0.5 model or block 1.0 model, and upgrading them to block 3.0. During the next administration, 40 more F-35s will be imported, sources said. President Lee’s five-year term ends in February next year. Under the Constitution, Lee is banned from seeking a second term.
Some experts said South Korea could be able to upgrade imported F-35s to block 2.0 in 2020 at the earliest.
Experts have called the F-35 aircraft an “(empty) can plane” as its software program has yet to be finished.