SOUTH KOREA: South Korea aiming to export its homemade jet fighters

Record ID: 375644

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: South Korea aiming to export its homemade jet fighters
  • Date: 19th August 2013
  • Summary: GWANGJU, SOUTH KOREA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SOUTH KOREAN ADVANCED JET TRAINER T-50 TAKING OFF AND LANDING T-50 TAXING SACHEON, SOUTH KOREA (RECENT) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF KOREA AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES (KAI) BUILDING SIGN READING: "KAI" VARIOUS INTERIORS OF SOUTH KOREAN JET FIGHTER ASSEMBLY LINE WORKERS WORKING VARIOUS OF WORKERS MAKING SOUTH KOREAN JET FIGHTER FA-50 J
  • Embargoed: 3rd September 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Korea, Republic of
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Conflict,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA67N20AIOWDBUSK32WIELW0U51
  • Story Text: South Korea has its sights set on becoming one of a small group of countries that export fighter jets, potentially giving a boost to its slowing economy.
    South Korea's first home-built light fighter, the FA-50, will roll out on Tuesday (August 20) from the Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd (KAI) assembly plant in Sacheon.
    The FA-50 is based on the T-50 advanced jet trainer, which is already in service in South Korea and got its first export customer - Indonesia - in 2011. The development of a much larger KF-X fighter with the help of U.S. defence contractors could get the go-ahead by the end of the year.
    That will pit South Korea's fighters in a dogfight against U.S., European, Chinese and Russian companies in an increasingly crowded - yet still lucrative - market. Global defence budgets are forecast to increase by 9.3 percent to $1.65 trillion by 2021, according to analysts IHS Janes. Defence budgets in the Asia Pacific are forecast to outstrip North America by 2021, up 35 percent from 2013 levels to $501bn, it added in its Balance of Trade report in June.
    KAI officials say that they aim to sell about 1,000 FA-50s and T-50s overseas over the next three decades, that are eyeing markets in Southeast Asia, East Europe and the Americas.
    "Countries in Southeast Asia and South America are finding FA-50s enormously attractive," Park Jeong-soo, a senior official from KAI's external affairs department told reporters.
    The first FA-50 is part of an order for 20 fighters by the Republic of Korea Air Force, which will use them to replace its ageing Northrop F-5 fighters.
    Negotiations are ongoing with the Philippines, with a local online news outlet reporting that a $460 million deal with Manila for 12 FA-50s could be completed this month. Officials at the Sacheon headquarters of KAI declined to comment due to the sensitivity of the matter.
    The FA-50 is based on the T-50 advanced jet trainer, which was developed together with U.S. defence contractor Lockheed Martin and is in service with in South Korea. The T-50 can also be fitted with weapons under its wings and used as a light attack aircraft. Indonesia was the first export customer with a 2011 order for 16 T-50s, and Iraq is in ongoing negotiations to buy 24.
    KAI and Lockheed, though, are gearing up for a lucrative U.S. Air Force competition for at least 300 aircraft and maybe hundreds more worth several billion dollars, a deal that one South Korean officer called the "jackpot".
    "This is the airplane of which exports are under way including those to Indonesia that played a big role in developing our nation's aviation technology," said captain Jeong Yi-joon who has flown T-50s for two years.
    Seoul has for several years been studying a larger KF-X fighter aircraft, which it hopes will be a replacement for the F-16-class of fighters. A decision is expected by end-2013 and the winner of the ongoing FX-III tender has to help with its development.
    The government's arms procurement agency said on Friday at least one bid among Boeing Co, EADS and Lockheed Martin Corp was qualified for pricing, a move that lifted the hurdle to selecting a winner to supply 60 fighter jets in the long-delayed project.
    The KF-X project remains on the drawing board however, due to budget concerns, but KAI said it is capable of building the high-grade next generation fighters based on its own previous models.
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