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