By Jun Ji-hye
The defense acquisition agency said Wednesday that it will decide a winner among three competitors as early as May and no later than June for the Air Force’s project to deploy four in-flight refueling tankers by 2019.
“The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) will carry out a final check in May before selecting a model and signing a contract in May or June.” said a DAPA official.
The three competitors are Boeing’s KC-46; Airbus Defence & Space’s A330 MRTT (Multi Role Tanker Transport) and Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) KC-767 MMTT (Multi Mission Tanker Transport).
The state-run procurement agency initially planned to make a final decision by the end of last year. But the plan was postponed due to a delay in negotiations and budget problems.
A transfer of tests and evaluation functions from DAPA to the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff has also contributed to the delay, the official noted.
The 1.4 trillion won ($1.4 billion) project is designed to improve airborne operations of fighters and was finalized in November, 2013.
Last month, the ministry finalized the five year defense program which covers 2016-2020. This includes the introduction of the tankers.
The DAPA official noted, “Our goal is to deploy the four tankers by 2019.”
In the meantime, the procurement agency denied speculation that it has intentionally created unfavorable conditions for IAI’s tanker by adjusting the price ratio in the bidding competition from 30 percent to 20 percent.
IAI has offered a tanker based on Boeing’s secondhand 767 aircraft. As it is a tanker converted from a used plane, the price is known to be around half the price of its competitors.
The official explained, “The adjustment came after analysis from various research agencies which studied this project.”
The Air Force expects in-flight refueling tankers to enable its fighter jets to considerably extend their flight time when patrolling Ieodo or Dokdo. The two islets, which are under South Korea’s jurisdiction, are subject to territorial claims from China and Japan, respectively.
Since 1993, the Air Force has sought to deploy aerial tankers to refuel fighter jets, but the plan has been repeatedly shelved due to budget constraints and shifts in priorities.
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