US approves F-35 offset technology transfer to South Korea

The US government has approved the export of technologies to South Korea to support its development of the Korean Fighter Experimental (KFX) 4.5-generation fighter aircraft.
South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said on 9 December that approvals for 21 technology suites have been granted by the United States following negotiations that continued through November.
The technologies form a central part of the defence offset programme attached to Lockheed Martin's sale of F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft to the Republic of Korea Air Force. Seoul agreed to purchase 40 F-35s.
janes

KAI in Partnership with Airbus will Develop South Korea Future Fighter KF-X

KAI was picked as the preferred bidder for the South Korea's indigenous fighter jet development program Monday.
Codenamed KF-X, the project calls for South Korea to develop fighter jets of the F-16 class to replace its aging fleet of F-4s and F-5s. Some 120 jets are to be put into service starting around 2025.
KAI, in partnership with Airbus Defense and Space, vied against Seoul's top air carrier, Korean Air Lines Co., which teamed up with Lockheed Martin of the United States.
Industrial watchers say KAI has a technical edge over Korean Air based upon its experience developing the T-50 Golden Eagle.
yonhapnews

Korean Air, Airbus join hands for South Korean fighter project

South Korea's top air carrier Korean Air, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus to jointly bid for Seoul's indigenous fighter development project.
Codenamed KF-X, the project calls for South Korea to develop fighter jets of the F-16 class to replace its aging fleet of F-4s and F-5s. Some 120 jets are to be put into service starting around 2025.
The partners will jointly take part in a second South Korean government bid for the project set to be closed on Tuesday.
The first government bid for the project fell through earlier this month, as Korean Air did not take part in it.
Airbus confirmed the partnership agreement with Korean Air, saying that the South Korean company first approached it for the project.
South Korea's sole aircraft manufacturer, the Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd., was the sole participant in last week's bid in partnership with Lockheed Martin of the United States. Under South Korean laws, at least two bidders are needed to make a public auction valid.
KAI has a technical edge over Korean Air based upon its experience developing the T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer and the country's utility helicopter, Surion, while the latter has larger investment capacity, according to industrial watchers.
Airbus would be able to complement Korean Air in terms of technical issues. The South Korean military decided to use the twin-engine platform over the single-engine one, and Airbus is familiar with the platform after building the multi-role fighter, Eurofighter.
koreaherald

Bid for South Korea KF-X fighter project fails

Korean Air, failed to place a bid for the ROK Air Force's homegrown fighter program by the deadline, making the bidding invalid, the state arms procurement agency said, Monday.
KAI was found to be the sole applier after closing the bid Monday.
At least two bidders are needed for the auction to be valid, according to Korean law. A lack of bidders will lead to a second auction later this month.
Korean Air said last Thursday that it planned to submit a bid in collaboration with Europe's Airbus Defence and Space, but failed to do so.
KAI,has joined Lockheed Martin for the project.
The failure of Korean Air to make a bid by the deadline will likely cause a setback in the project because a time delay is inevitable.
DAPA initially planned to review proposals from the two teams and pick a preferred bidder by next month after closing the bid on Monday. The agency had planned to decide a winner by the first half of the year.
Under the law, when a first bid fails, DAPA moves on to a second one.
The project, codenamed KF-X, will develop indigenous F-16 class fighter jets, which are scheduled for service from 2025, to replace the aging F-4 and F-5 jets.
Korean Air and Airbus reached a verbal agreement early last week, and were scheduled to sign a memorandum of understanding to take part in the project.
After its plan to participate in the program was made known to the public, experts and industry watchers predicted fierce competition between KAI and Korean Air.
koreatimes

Indonesia to co-develop KF-X South Korea fighter jet project

South Korea's arms procurement agency said on Monday that Indonesia had agreed to pay 20 percent of the development costs of a mid-level fighter jet programme.
The South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said in a statement that it signed a basic agreement to develop the "KF-X" or "Boramae" fighter jet with the Indonesian defense ministry.
The jets, to be delivered from 2025, are expected to be developed with the help of Lockheed Martin.
reuters

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

South Korea Opts for KF-X Twin-Engine Fighter Development

The South Korean military has chosen to equip its future fighter jet with two engines instead of one amid lingering worries over the economic and technical merits of the twin-engine aircraft development.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) held a top decision-making council Friday to make a choice about the number of engines for the KF-X jet, which is to be developed indigenously with technical assistance from a foreign partner.
South Korea aims to produce 120 or more KF-X aircraft after 2025 to replace the Air Force’s F-4s and F-5s, most of which will be decommissioned before the mid-2020s. The KF-X could be on par with an advanced F-16 jet armed with high-end avionics systems.
defense-studies

South Korea to Award Tanker, Fighter Contracts by End of Year

The Republic of Korea Air Force expects to make a selection and sign a contract on its new tanker before the end of the year.
The service will also announce its next-generation fighter selection next month.
The F-X program will replace South Korea’s aging F-4 and F-5 fighter fleet. It is widely believed that Seoul has settled on Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
The selection will also help kick off the KF-X program, South Korea’s development program of an indigenous fighter design. The two programs are directly linked.
The Korean air force opened its doors for bidding on its KC-X tanker program in October. Korean is looking for something with cargo capacity as well as both boom and drogue refueling capabilities.
Three platforms have been entered into the competition: The Airbus A330, Boeing’s KC-46A platform and an offering from Israeli Aerospace Industries of modified, previously owned Boeing 767s.
Other modernization priorities are also moving along. Korea will introduce it’s first C-130J transport next month, while it expects to see movement on its purchase of four Global Hawk unmanned systems.
defensenews

Design of long-delayed KF-X still in debate

After a decade-long delay, Korea’s indigenous fighter program is about to officially hit the road with bidding by partner firms scheduled for next month.
However, which design concept to go with — a single- or twin-engine aircraft — is emerging as the biggest sticking point in the program, codenamed KF-X.
The state-run Agency for Defense Development (ADD) and the Air Force, claims the nation’s future fighter should be a two-engine, clean-sheet aircraft, proposing a design labeled C103.
On the other hand the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) promotes a single-engine version of an aircraft, named C501, to be derived from the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) FA-50 light attack fighter, saying the plane is cheaper and easier to develop and build than the ADD preference.
The C103 is a Eurofighter-like 4.5th-generation plane that can easily be upgraded to a fifth-generation fighter, while the C501 is a fourth-generation one, according local aviation analysts.
The ADD has reserved space for a conformable weapons bay in its C103 design, which would give it the makings of a low-observable fighter.
The analysts said that if Korea opts for the twin-engine aircraft in the KF-X, the combat plane will eventually be able to replace the Air Force’s F-16s and F-15s in the future, otherwise, the KF-X will only end up as replacement for F-4s and F-5s.
According to KAI, the C501 will be built based on the FA-50, although it will be larger.
koreatimes

South Korea Weighs Designs for KF-X

A decadelong effort by South Korea to develop its own fighter aircraft has finally received approval, the KF-X indigenous project.
South Korea announced Jan. 5 that it would begin the KF-X development aiming to produce 120 KF-X jets between 2023 and 2030.
The announcement sparked a dispute over key specifications for the KF-X, especially over the design of the future jet.
The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) has long studied a twin-engine concept, either of the C103 design that looks somewhat like the F-35 or the C203 design following the European approach and using forward canards in a stealth-shaped airframe.
Both of the twin-engine platforms would be powered by two 18,000-pound engines.
Korea Aerospace Industries prefers a single-engine concept, dubbed C501, which is to be built based on the FA-50.
The C501, powered by a 29,000-pound engine, is designed to be fitted with a limited low-observable configuration and advanced avionics.
The FA-50 entered service in August with the South Korean Air Force.
defensenews

KAI Proposes Smaller KF-X Design

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is pushing for South Korea to cut the technical challenges of its proposed KF-X fighter program, offering a single-engine concept that probably has a distant connection with the Lockheed Martin F-16. KAI's KFX-E design should be cheaper to develop and build than the larger proposals put forward by the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), the chief proponent of the KF-X.
Also much smaller than and more differentiated from the Lockheed Martin F-35, the KFX-E may offer the further advantage of minimizing competition from that U.S. stealth fighter. But it may have Lockheed Martin or other U.S. intellectual property in its design, exposing it to a foreign veto over sales or even development.
Seoul will probably have a foreign alternative to consider, too. Western proposals for KF-X include twin-tail developments of the F-16 and Eurofighter Typhoon, and an advanced version of the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Those offerings were included as technology transfer in bids for the separate F-X Phase 3 program for 60 fighters. F-X Phase 3 has been abandoned, but a successor competition will be needed, probably reviving foreign KF-X proposals.
aviationweek

Fifteen former RoKAF chiefs protest against selection of F-15SE

Fifteen former Air Force chiefs have written to President Park Geun-hye calling on her to procure stealth bombers. They said Korea should "give top priority to stealth functions" for the next-generation F-X fighter procurement project, regardless of the budget.
A total amount of W8.3 trillion (US$1=W1,085) has been earmarked for the project to buy 60 fighter jets.
chosun.com

KAI Publishes Small KF-X Concept

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has published a drawing of a moderately stealthy fighter concept based on its T-50 series of supersonic trainers and light-attack aircraft. The concept aircraft is far smaller and less ambitious than the all-new, twin-engine KF-X designs promoted by the Agency for Defense Development, the leading proponent of building an indigenous South Korea fighter
defense-studies