South Korea To Finalize F-35 Jet Fighter Deal This Year

South Korea plans to finalize the purchase of 40 next-generation F-35 jet fighters from US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin later this year.
The absence of a stealth capability was behind the military’s decision in September to block a deal to buy 60 of Boeing’s F-15 fighters.
defensenews

Eurofighter to bid in new South Korea fighter contest

Eurofighter will bid again to sell fighter jets to South Korea after the country's government cancelled a contest that U.S. rival Boeing was poised to win.
Seoul rejected Boeing's bid to supply 60 warplanes, saying it would restart the multi-billion-dollar process to get a more advanced, radar-evading fighter.
Boeing's F-15 Silent Eagle, the only bid within budget, had been poised to win the $7.7 billion tender after competing with Lockheed Martin's F-35A and the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Lockheed's F-35 is now widely seen as the front-runner, but Eurofighter would fight to stay in the race.
reuters

F-15SE sole candidate in South Korea after Eurofighter got disqualified

The Eurofighter Tranche 3 Typhoon by EADS has reportedly been eliminated from South Korea's project to buy new fighter jets, leaving Boeing's F-15 Silent Eagle as the sole final candidate.
EADShas dropped out of the bidding due to problems with their documents lefting.
The South Korea National Procurement Agency said "flaws found in the bidding documents" as reasons of the elimination. It did not elaborate on what kind of document flaws was found.
yonhapnews

USA reveals weapons loads for F-15SE, F-35 in S Korean F-X competition

The US Department of Defense has formally notified congress about the potential sale of weapons for the Boeing F-15 Silent Eagle and Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which are vying for South Korea's 60 aircraft F-X III requirement.
The weapons package for the F-15SE will cost $823 million, while that for the F-35 will cost $793 million.
Key elements of both packages include 274 Raytheon AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM medium-range air-to-air missiles, hundreds of Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tail kits, 542 Boeing GBU-39/B small diameter bombs and other weapons.
flightglobal

Boeing Cuts F-15SE Design Feature in Korean Fighter Bid

As competition to secure a $7.3 billion deal with South Korea for the Asian nation’s next-generation fighter enters its final stages, key “stealth” feature were dropped off Boeing’s F-15 Silent Eagle (F-15SE). Boeing’s F-15SE is in a tough round of evaluations as it competes with Lockheed Martin’s F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and EADS’ Eurofighter Typhoon to nail down a multi-billion contract with South Korea for as many as 60 fifth-generation fighters.

learn more