U.S. Suspects Korea of Stealing Weapons Technology (South)

Korean and U.S. military officers earlier this year investigated suspicions by the U.S. government that Korea illegally disassembled F-15K fighter jet equipment for low-altitude night penetration attacks.

An official with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration on Monday said the chief of the U.S. Defense Technology Security Administration raised suspicions in a meeting with a senior DAPA official in early June that Korea illegally disassembled Tiger Eye, a key component of the cutting-edge U.S.-made fighter jets.

The U.S. suspects this was done to steal the technology, since Korea is an aspiring player in the global arms market.

The Tiger Eye is a device installed under the F-15K's fuselage that helps the jet fly at a low altitude to avoid detection by enemy radar systems and launch precision attacks with precision-guided munitions at night and in bad weather. It consists of navigation systems and targeting pod devices.

The KF-16, which Korea procured before the F-15K, has a similar system called "LANTIRN." But Tiger Eye is much more advanced, and the U.S. is reluctant to transfer the technology. It therefore seals the box before it exports the device to other countries, and the contract stipulates that it cannot be disassembled.

But the U.S. said one box which the Air Force had sent to the U.S. for maintenance and repair showed evidence of the seal having been broken, illegally disassembled and put back together again, according to a source.

Korea has a history of disassembling U.S.-made weapons in the 1980s and using what it learned to develop its own weapons. But since the 1990s this has supposedly not happened again.

Korea and the U.S. conducted a weeklong joint investigation from Sept. 18 but failed to find proof that Korea had disassembled the Tiger Eye.

The DAPA official said, "The U.S. tentatively concluded that the Korean Air Force had not illegally mishandled the equipment."

A military officer said more such allegations could surface as Korea expands its arms market round the world.

The U.S. restricts Korean exports of weapons like the K-1 tanks which are made with U.S. technological support. Observers worry that the latest incident could lead to even tighter restrictions.

But the DAPA official said, "It doesn't seem likely that the U.S. will put restrictions on Korea's exports of military equipment."

Japan has legal impediments for export of weapons, but this is not the case in Korea. Since they now have a very serious domestic fighter program of their own, it’s likely that this US tech would find it’s way into THEIR fighter, and then would be exported —in many cases in markets where the US is highly active.

So the US tax payer would be shelling-out TO BE PUT OUT OF BIZ.

And despite the amazing state of affairs on it’s Northern border, in many cases South Korea gives off signs that it views defense budget as simply an extension of an industrial policy —the weapons developed are not done with a mind to maximizing DEFENSE benefit, and instead other benefits.

In other words, they rely so heavily on deterrence by the USA that they take the risks SK faces less seriously than the US does.

This is historically unusual, unsustainable, and BIZARRE.

It would be like South Korea spending more on deterring illegal immigration by Mexicans into the USA than the USA did.

That would be extremely strange.

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