A South Korean request for additional translation of proposal documents will oblige Lockheed Martin and the Eurofighter Consortium to re-submit their formal bids for the nation's 60 aircraft F-X III requirement.

The two companies have until 5 July to re-submit their formal bids, which were originally handed to Seoul's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) on Monday, 18 June 2012.

According to an industry source familiar with the competition, Lockheed's proposal for the F-35A needs some additional sections translated into Korean.

Eurofighter's Typhoon proposal, however, needs extensive translation. The original Eurofighter bid was mostly in English, with only an executive summary in Korean - EADS unit Cassidian is leading the Eurofighter campaign in Korea.

Boeing's bid for the F-15 Silent Eagle apparently requires no additional translation.

"This was all just a small misunderstanding," the source said. "DAPA wants to be completely above board and transparent with this competition."

Source: Flight International