Posted on 09/25/2014 7:12:57 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea is buying 40 F-35A fighter jets from Lockheed Martin to upgrade its aging fleet of aircraft and help counter the threat posed by North Korea, officials said Wednesday.
The approximately $7 billion acquisition from the Bethesda, Md.-based company marks South Korea’s single largest weapons purchase, said Paek Youn Hyeong, a spokesman for the South’s Defense Acquisitions Program Administration.
“The biggest reason for the purchase is that we need higher-performance aircraft,” he said.
South Korea announced its intent to sign a Letter of Offer and Acceptance with Lockheed Martin on Wednesday after several months of negotiation about the price. The aircraft will be delivered to the South between 2018 and 2021, Paek said.
The F-35A Lightning II is a fifth-generation fighter with advanced stealth technology and sustainment, according to Lockheed Martin.
The agreement makes South Korea the third Foreign Military Sales country to buy the F-35, along with Israel and Japan, which announced their purchases in 2010 and 2011, respectively, a company statement said.
The purchase of the fighter jets is designed to replace South Korea’s aging fleet of F-4 and F-5 fighter jets, South Korea’s Yonhap News reported.
Paek said Thursday that the DAPA has also finalized plans to produce 120 mid-sized, next-generation fighter jets at the cost of approximately $8.5 billion. The upgraded aircraft will be deployed beginning in 2025, he said.
Buy some A-10’s...!!!
Those really are aging fighters. I would have guessed they had F-15s and F-16s. That is a big jump forward.
40???!!! Yowza! This is great for jobs!
They do.
These will replace the F-5’s and F-4’s.
Transitioning from a F-4 to a F-35.
Wow.
It will take years to wipe the smile off those pilots faces...
.
Soon the West will be Armed with Obama’s blank firing F-35’s and defenseless
That’s alot of money spent for a non battle tested plane that won’t be out of its development phase till 2018.
Israel, Japan and South Korea are populated by some of the smartest and Toughest people on earth. they did their homework and purchased what they know is a first class plane.
“Israel, Japan and South Korea are populated by some of the smartest and Toughest people on earth. they did their homework and purchased what they know is a first class plane”
IIRC, all three countries wanted to buy the F-22 but we wouldn’t lift the export ban.
From everything I have read or heard the F-22 is a magnificent fighter.
There are 3 squadrons of them at Tyndall which is near here but I never see them flying. I guess they fly mostly over the Gulf.
When I lived in Tidewater Virginia, I visited Langley several times. I always thought it was a beautiful base. It reminded me a bit of a college campus.
It is home to the First Fighter Wing and for some reason, if there is an interview on the news, they always seem to have a pilot from Langley on.
Quite a few years ago, I was talking to a pilot from Eglin. I mentioned something about Langley. He laughed and said they all called it the “Worst Fighter Wing” instead of the first.
Any AF base that is high profile/visibility or has a Group HQ or higher is gonna be a PITA place to work...
Too much brass running around dreaming up lots of “make work” or “beautification” projects...
Then there’s always form over function...jets need to be SPOTLESS, aligned perfectly on the line, fire bottles all in perfect alignment, wear of full uniform regardless of weather and working conditions, no equipment allowed to be left in place if work pauses for more than a couple of hours, etc...
This instead of focusing on maintenance will just about always guarantee a “worst” fighter wing or base reputation.
I was stationed at one some years ago...a real PITA for a mechanic...
Should be “...AF HQ or higher...”, not Group.
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