South Korea Fighter Procurement Projects Pick Up Speed

South Korea’s mega projects to develop indigenous fighters and purchase stealth warplanes are picking up pace as Seoul plans to approve crucial administrative steps at the national defense acquisition program committee in September.
At the committee, top defense officials are to approve the bidding plan for the “KFX project” to develop home-built fighters, and the result of negotiations for the FX stealth fighter procurement project will be reported, sources said.
After giving public notice of the bids for the KFX project this month, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration plans to pick the preferred bidder in November and sign a contract on the system development in December. Korea Aerospace Industries, the country’s sole fighter maker, is likely to be chosen as the system developer.
defense-studies