Posted April. 09, 2001 11:21,
The Defense Ministry kicked off a sweeping review of big-ticket military procurement projects worth 10 trillion won, including the F-X project for next generation fighters.
A high-ranking ministry official said Sunday that new Defense Minister Kim Dong-Shin ordered a review of overall weapons import projects with particular emphasis on their progress and negotiating strategies.
The official indicated that some of the projects may be delayed or cancelled in the event that the prices of competition-free weapons are too high. ``We will consider developing such weapons with our own technologies,`` he said.
The ministry decided to conduct the review amid concerns about possible ill effects from the ongoing fierce lobbying from the start of some of the projects. The ministry was also facing criticism from inside and outside the military that the current formula for promoting some of the projects is not helpful to obtaining technical knowhow and improving the operational rates of local defense industry firms.
There is a possibility that the ministry will postpone some of the projects to next year or adjust the directions of the projects, depending on the results of the review.
Among the major items set to be evaluated are price, function, technical transfer, conditions for trade and follow-up supplies. Of them, top priority will be placed on the accumulation of technologies and trade negotiations that will be helpful to the development of local defense industry, ministry sources said.