U.S. Air Force Promotes Two Warplane Projects

The Korean government and airline companies are pushing to win a contract with the U.S. Air Force, which is promoting fighter plane development projects worth billions of dollars.

According to several military media sources, the U.S. Air Force will reinforce the framework and enhance the capabilities of its planes, including hundreds of ground-attack A-10 and 600 F-16 planes which are based in the Pacific Ocean now.

The reinforcement project for the “Tank Killer” A-10 plane involves replacing the frame of the wings with strong material such as titanium, and it is known that the project has an estimated budget of 1.2 trillion won.

The U.S. Air Force invited several airline companies last May, including the American Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Korean Air (KAL) and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), and it is currently in the process of selecting a vendor.

“KAI and KAL are trying their utmost to win a contract. The Korean Ministry of National Defense and the DAPA (Defense Acquisition Program Administration) are also contacting the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of State to help Korean companies win a contract,” said a military media source.

The U.S. Air Force will also change all navigational equipment for all of its F-16 planes, which are located in the Pacific Ocean. Replacing the body frame will be included along with capability enhancement, in order to increase the durability of the fighting aircrafts.

KAI and KAL as well as foreign businesses are competing heavily for the business, which is known to have about 1 trillion won invested. The U.S. Air Force will choose the successful bidder this coming March. U.S. Air Force officials have already visited Korean sites, and it is known that they are satisfied.

KAL has worked on aircraft development projects since the 1980s as it has developed and maintained warplanes of both Korea and the U.S. KAI won a contract for creating the framework for 21 F-16 planes, which has been developed since then.

“The biggest project among recent American airplane development projects accepted by Korean companies didn’t exceed 100 billion won. The government-level support is desperate, since it will prove the excellence of the Korean aviation industry as well as contribute to making money from overseas if a domestic company wins this contract.” said another military media source.

ysh1005@donga.com