Posted on 08/03/2011 9:39:13 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Korea awaits new partner for $5 bil. fighter program
By Lee Tae-hoon
The door is open for another country or foreign firm to participate in Seoul’s initiative to develop a new combat aircraft with a budget of $5 billion, defense officials here said.
“Many countries, including the United Arab Emirates, have shown interest in investing in the project,” Noh Dae-rae, head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration Commissioner, said Tuesday.
“We are planning to allow another country with the most attractive offer to join the KF-X program.”
The KF-X program refers to the multirole fighter development program that Seoul has pursued since 2000 to replace its aging F-4/5 fighter jets.
Indonesia pledged last year to invest $1 billion in the project and buy 50 KF-X fighters for allowing its researchers to participate in development.
Noh made the remarks at the kickoff ceremony of the KF-X project’s feasibility study to be jointly conducted with Jakarta, which will also shoulder 20 percent of the $50 million initial study costs.
Thirty-five Indonesian researchers will team up with 137 Korean experts for the exploration stage which is scheduled for completion with the selection of a prototype at the end of 2012.
Noh noted that he expects another KF-X partner to share up to 29 percent of the development costs and purchase some 150 new fighters in return for joining the consortium.
“The global trend is clearly moving toward joint development as the risk for the development of an advanced fighter is high despite the limited market,” he said.
Industry sources say Poland and Turkey have also expressed an interest in forging a partnership with Korea for the program.
American defense giant Lockheed Martin, which invested 13 percent in Korea’s development of T-50 supersonic trainer jets, is also apparently considering participating in the Seoul-led fighter jet development program.
“We’d be honored to be a partner in the KF-X program,” Stephen O’Bryan, a vice president of Lockheed Martin, said last month.
Lee Dae-yeorl, program director of the Combined Research and Development Center for the KF-X, said he would welcome industry participation from the world’s leading aerospace firms.
“We believe defense firms, such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) can help us reduce the technology gap,” he said.
He said Seoul aims to develop an indigenous aircraft with limited stealth capabilities and a locally developed active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar system.
“We’ll develop a whole new fighter never seen anywhere else in the world,” Lee said.
He noted that the cost per KF-X jet is estimated at $55 million and its production aircraft is expected to be deployed from 2020.
Critics, however, say the future of the KF-X program remains uncertain as Korea plans to drop the $5 billion plan if it fails to attract foreign investment of 40 percent or above.
leeth@koreatimes.co.kr
“He noted that the cost per KF-X jet is estimated at $55 million and its production aircraft is expected to be deployed from 2020.”
This statement seems wildly optimistic. South Korea does not have an indigenous fighter much less a stealth fighter. Unless they are stealing a design and production methods, I do not see how they can deploy a new stealth fighter until 2030.
They are already producing an advanced jet trainer/light fighter so they do have infrastructure. They have been doing research on the KFX project for a long time now and companies like Saab and Lockheed Martin have offered design assistance. Anyway, it’s not envisaged to be a true stealth aircraft with internal weapons so they can cut corners there. Sure the time/cost estimates appear optimistic, but they can do a pretty creditable job.
Simple... The Capitalist way! Buy your way to a solution! They have the technical compitence for the airframe and electronics, not sure about actuators, RF coatings, engines or IR control, but the information’s out there.
They need another “partner” to defend their sorry asses too.
You expect Poland or Turkey to send troops over there?
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