By Jun Ji-hye
Concerns are growing over a possible vacuum in the nation’s air power amid gloomy assessments about the feasibility of the Korean Fighter Experimental (KF-X) project to develop indigenous fighter jets by 2025.
On Thursday, the U.S. government again refused to accept South Korea’s request for the transfer of key American technologies on F-35 stealth fighters, dealing a further blow to the nation’s 8.5 trillion won project, which calls for developing home -grown fighter jets to replace an aging fleet of F-4s and F-5s.
The government is planning to produce 120 jets, which would require an additional 10 trillion won.
But the outlook looks gloomy because the four core technologies that the U.S. refused to allow F-35 maker Lockheed Martin to hand over to Seoul are critical in high-tech fighter jets.
The four are the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, infrared search and track (IRST), electronic optics targeting pod (EOTGP) and radio frequency (RF) jammer.
Defense observers said that if the KF-X project was delayed or eventually failed, there would be no perfect way to prepare for the retirement of F-4s and F-5s unless the nation bought high-tech jets such as F-35s from foreign countries.
They say this could lead to a vacuum in the nation’s air power.
According to the Air Force, Sunday, 40 F-4Es Phantoms will retire by 2019. Among 180 variants of the F-5 family, 120 F-5Es and F-5Fs will retire by 2019, and the remaining 60 F-5s will retire by 2025.
During a parliamentary audit last month, the Air Force said it had 420 fighter jets, but this already falls short of the reasonable number proposed by the Korea Institute for Defense Analysis (KIDA). The state-run institute suggested 430 as the proper number for now.
The current number is also nearly half of North Korea’s 820 fighter jets. Such a huge numerical difference could put the pressure on the Air Force’s tactical strategies, although the quality of the South’ air power surpasses that of the North, according to experts.
In mid-2020s, the number of South Korea’s fighter jets is expected to fall to 310, although 60 FA-50 light attack fighters and 40 F-35As are to be introduced.
Following the U.S. refusal, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said it would push for domestic development of core technologies and cooperation with other European companies, but experts still remain skeptical.
“There is great possibility that additional time and money would be necessary for the jet development,” Korea Defense and Security Forum senior research fellow Kim Dae-young told reporters.
Regarding whether the European technologies could be smoothly integrated with the American ones, he added: “For that, the core technologies of Europe and the U.S. should all be disclosed. And for that, South Korea’s negotiating power is highly required.”
In response to the gloomy assessment provided over the feasibility of the KF-X, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Kim Min-seok said, “The most important thing is the will of our scientists and the government.
“The research and development sector always has uncertainty. If we say we cannot do it because of that uncertainty, there will be nothing we can do.”
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