By Kang Seung-woo
The government said Thursday that it will reopen the suspended bidding competition for next-generation fighters next month.
The program, aimed at purchasing 60 fighters by 2021 to replace the Korean Air Force’s aging fleet of F-4s and F-5s, was placed on temporary hold three weeks ago after all competitors had failed to satisfy the government’s procurement price through 55 bidding sessions.
The contenders for the 8.3 trillion-won contract are Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II, Boeing’s F-15 Silent Eagle and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS)’s Eurofighter Tranche 3 Typhoon.
“We have reached a conclusion that the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) will resume the bidding in a committee meeting,” DAPA Spokesman Baek Yoon-hyeong said in a briefing.
He added that the bidding, scheduled to start in the third week of August, will be carried out once before re-launching the program.
“If none of them places bids within budget constraints in the bidding, DAPA will declare it a failure and revise the program.”
Lowering the number of planes to buy; purchasing the planes over a longer period of time to reduce the financial burden; or increasing the procurement budget can be options.
If left, the new bidding could turn into a two-way race between the F-15 and the Eurofighter because the F-35, seen as the favorite from the beginning of the project, cannot lower its bid, given that the U.S. government is unable to offer a fixed price because the stealth jet is being manufactured and simultaneously tested.
Particularly, Boeing, which sold 60 F-15Ks through the previous two phases of the F-X, was reportedly closest to the DAPA budget with its bid being just 3 percent higher.
The Ministry of National Defense and the DAPA were leaning toward purchasing aircraft over a longer period of time to ease the financial burden.
However, the adjustment which requires the DAPA to restart the procurement project from scratch drew backlashes from participants who claimed the revision is just for afford a chance to the F-35 and the Air Force, which is concerned that the delayed timeline is likely to create a void in its strength.
In addition, Saenuri Party lawmakers who belong to the National Defense Committee at the National Assembly last week asked Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and DAPA Administrator Lee Young-geol not to delay the F-X project.