By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
The South Korean government has recently requested $200 million worth of missiles and other weapon systems from the United States to equip its new F-15K multi-role fighters, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Tuesday.
The munitions ― mainly supplied by Raytheon ― includes 125 AIM 120C-7 advanced medium range air-to-air missiles; 35 AGM-65G Maverick missiles; and 280 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tail-kits, it said.
Also included are two GBU-24, two GBU-10 and 32 GBU-12 laser guided bomb units; RR-170 radar jamming chaff plus a range of bomb parts, spares and related items
The contract follows the 21-plane, $2.3 billion second phase of Seoul's F-X fighter procurement project in April. The F-X program aims to acquire 120 high-tech fighter jets by 2020 to replace aging F-4s and F-5s.
In the second-phase deal, Boeing offered to provide one more aircraft to help the Air Force replace an F-15K that crashed in 2006 as part of an offset deal.
In 2002, the F-15K built by U.S. aircraft giant Boeing was selected for the 40-plane, $4.2 billion first phase of the F-X program.
The F-15K is capable of air-to-ground, air-to-air and air-to-sea missions day or night, in all weather conditions. It has a 23,000-pound payload and can fly at a maximum speed of Mach 2.3, with an operational radius of 1,800 kilometers. A single aircraft costs approximately $100 million.
Meanwhile, a U.S. government report said South Korea was the eighth biggest buyer of U.S. defense products in the fiscal year that ended in September 2007 under the government-to-government foreign military sales (FMS) program.
Between October 2006 and September 2007, the military bought nearly $840 million worth of weaponry via the FMS, according to a Pentagon report, titled ``Congressional Budget Justification: Foreign Assistance.''
Seoul also purchased $1.52 billion worth of defense goods from the United States on a commercial basis, the report said.
Australia topped the list with $3.06 billion, followed by Turkey ($2.03 billion), Saudi Arabia ($1.7 billion) and Iraq ($1.7 billion). The United Arab Emirates ranked fifth with $1.63 billion, Canada was sixth with $1.34 billion and Israel was seventh with $1.13 billion.