Air Force to Buy 20 New Fighters

The Defense Project Promotion Committee held a general meeting on Tuesday and announced plans to purchase 20 high-tech fighter jets from overseas through a competitive bid.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) will spend 2.3 trillion won to introduce F-15K class multipurpose fighter jets between 2010 and 2012. The DAPA plans to conclude a contract in February 2008 after drawing up a purchase plan in February, inviting bidders in March, and having negotiations and test flight from June to December.

“Among the 120 high-class next generation fighters we have requested, 40 F-15K fighters are already being introduced as part of the first project. And the second project involves securing 20 additional fighters of the same class,” Kim Deuk-hwan, the senior manager of the DAPA, said. In regard to 5th generation F-35 fighter jets of the U.S., Kim said, “The air force wants to have fighter jets with two engines. However, F-35 has a single engine and there are many differences in terms of the capacity to load missiles and the radius of combat,” he added.

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