By Jun Ji-hye
The defense acquisition agency has finalized a plan to purchase 40 Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters as the nation’s next-generation fighters (F-X) with a total budget of 7.3 trillion won ($7 billion), officials said Wednesday.
The unit cost of each aircraft is 120 billion won.
“The plan is to gradually buy the aircraft, 10 at a time, from 2018 to 2021,” said Jung Kwang-sun, director of the aircraft department at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).
In return for the purchase, Lockheed Martin agreed to transfer fighter-related technology in 17 areas to Korea in its bid to develop an indigenous fighter, codenamed KF-X, to replace aging F-4 and F-5 jets.
The Defense Acquisition Program Executive Committee, which was presided over by Defense Minister Han Min-koo, approved the plan later Wednesday.
Following the agreement, the government is set to sign letters of agreement sent by the U.S. side. This is expected to be completed by the end of the month, Jung said.
DAPA spokesman Baek Youn-hyeong said that the administration carried out negotiations with the U.S. government and Lockheed Martin on aircraft software, price and offset programs from March to this month.
Last November, Seoul decided to import the radar-evading combat plane under the government-to-government foreign military sales process. This requires the government to pay an amount specified by the United States at the time of delivery.
Initially, Korea planned to introduce 60 high-tech combat planes with a budget of 8.3 trillion won, but the government later said it had decided to buy 40 F-35s first, saying it would decide later when to buy the remaining 20 based on changes in the national security situation. But the main reason was reportedly difficulty in allocating the additional funds.
“We have yet to decide whether we will also choose F-35s when we purchase the remaining 20,” said Jung.
Boeing’s conceptual F-15 Silent Eagle and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company’s Eurofighter Typhoon had vied with Lockheed’s F-35.
With regard to the KF-X project, Jung said that South Korea would lead in the development of the indigenous fighter, with the participation of Indonesia and foreign technical assistance companies.
“Lockheed Martin has agreed to transfer professional manpower, technology and materials for fighter planes to provide what South Korea lacks in developing F-16-class fighter jets that are envisioned to enter service from 2025,” said Jung.
The budget is expected to total about 8.5 trillion won.
“The government’s defense budget would cover 60 percent of the total, while Indonesia and the companies would pay 20 percent each,” said Jung.
He added that the government would gradually move forward with localizing major technology for the medium-level fighters.