Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE
The timetable for key South Korean defence procurement programmes looks likely to slip further as cash shortages continue, say senior defence and industry sources in Seoul.
The delays are likely to hit programmes such as South Korea's F-X fighter programme and the E-X airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft, say the sources. The Samsung/Lockheed Martin KTX-2 advanced trainer programme continues to be funded in the 1999 defence budget.
Industry officials close to the fighter procurement programme say that the issue of the first of two anticipated requests for proposals (RFPs) for the F-X will slip by at least another year.
Manufacturers had hoped that the first technical RFP would be released in mid-1999, having already been delayed since mid-1998 because of South Korea's economic recession. The requirement is for up to 120 aircraft, estimated to be worth $9 billion.
This would be followed by a commercial RFP, reducing the shortlist to two contenders in early 2000, with final selection by early 2001 and an initial in-service date of 2004-5. The technical RFP is not expected until at least 2000.
The requirement is for an aircraft capable of fulfilling air superiority and deep strike missions at a range of up to 1,480km (800nm), to replace the air force's McDonnell DouglasF-4D/Es.Industry officials say that the procurement would come in two tranches, the first of about 40 aircraft and the second of between 60 and 80.
The five leading candidate aircraft are the Boeing F-15K; Dassault Rafale; Eurofighter Typhoon; a development of the Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 60; and the Sukhoi Su-35/37.
The $3 billion AEW aircraft procurement will not be reactivated before 2000, after a two-year hiatus. Candidates include the Boeing/Northrop Grumman 737-700/MESA, the Airbus A310/Elta Phalcon, and the Ericsson Erieye-equipped Embraer RJ-145.
South Korea hopes to buy four aircraft for entry into service around 2005-6.
According to defence sources in Seoul, the 1999 defence budget has been fixed at the same level as that for 1998, when spending totalled 18.5 trillion won ($14.1 billion). The procurement budget has in fact increased "by 1% or 2%".
Source: Flight International
