120 next-generation jet fighters to replace F-5s by 2020

By Lee Tae-hoon

Staff reporter

The Air Force will decommission its entire fleet of F-5 fighter jets by 2020, which have been branded "pilot killers" following a series of crashes in the past decade, a military official Sunday.

The F-5s will be gradually replaced with 120 jets to be developed under the KF-X program, which aims to build and produce indigenous aircraft on par with the F-16, the official said on condition of anonymity.

"From the older ones, the F-5s will be gradually decommissioned and be excluded from aerial defense by early 2020," the source said, adding that locally produced fighter jets, called "KF-16 Plus," will replace them.

First introduced in the country in 1975, all of the F-5 fighters have been in operation for more than 20 years and many are over 30 years old.

Eleven F-5s have crashed since 2000, claiming the lives of 13 pilots. Three of the aging supersonic jets went down this year alone. On June 18, two pilots were killed when their jet crashed into the East Sea, while returning from routine training.

Of some 450 aircraft that the Air Force currently operates, F-5s account for roughly 38 percent. Korea has 170 F-5s, which were developed by Northrop Grumman of the United States.

Details of the new indigenous model are expected to be announced by late 2012.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), which is responsible for the KF-X initiative, plans to finalize a basic plan for the development of the new fighter jets in November this year.

Separately, DAPA is pushing to acquire next-generation fighter jets with stealth capabilities.

"The military is reviewing introducing the F-35 and equipping it with laser aimed weapons or introducing an upgrade model of the F-15K with stealth technology," an Air Force official said.