South Korea is to decide shortly on its
choice of future F-X fighter and with a
$4 billion order for 40 fighters hanging
in the balance, competition is intense.
Bidders are vying to fill two critical criteria
- a South Korean air force
requirement for a long-range strike
capability, while Korean Aerospace
Industries (KAI) is eyeing the F-X as a
technology building block on which it
hopes to develop the country's first
indigenous fighter.
The South Korean air force has no
shortage of lightweight fighters in the
form of either licence-built Lockheed
Martin F-16C/Ds or older Northrop
Grumman F-5E/Fs with which to face
down nearby North Korea. Seoul has'
now begun to focus attention on
potential threats beyond the Korean
peninsula, but there is little in the
inventory capable of projecting power,
aside perhaps from an ageing fleet of
McDonnell Douglas F-4D/Es in growing
need of replacement.
The South Korean air force baseline
specification is for a twin-engine
fighter, capable of Mach 1.8 in clean
configuration with the design flexibility
for multi-role missions in addition to
long-range interdiction strike. Specific
mission needs include the range and
endurance to remain on station for up
to 30min at the edge of the country's
air defence identification zone. This
encompasses the Tokdo/Takeshima
Islands, 280km (174 miles) offshore •
and claimed by both Seoul and Tokyo.
South Korea has stipulated an inflight
refuelling capability, but is waiting
on the final F-X selection before
deciding between either a probe-anddrogue
and/or boom-equipped
configured tanker. The four shortlisted
fighters all include the provision for
additional range, such as the
5,500litre (1,450USgal) conformal
tank offered as part of the Boeing
F-15K Eagle package, or in the form
of two 2,000litre underwing tanks on
the Eurofighter Typhoon.
The air force is planning an initial
buy of 26 single-seat and 14 dualseat
configured fighters, with initial
deliveries in 2004. Boeing claims to
have the edge on its two European
competitors in this respect in having a
fully operational fighter readily configured
for either single and tandem-seat
available within the laid-down timeframe.
Neither the Dassault Rafale nor Typhoon will have a full air-to-ground
capability ahead of 2005/6, while the
the Sukhoi Su-35 is considered an
outside player.
Eurofighter and Dassault both contend
they are offering newer
generation aircraft just now entering
operational service, whereas the
F-15K is based on a design first
fielded by the US Air Force in 1974.
The Europeans have sought to entice
the South Korean air force with a list of
planned incremental enhancements
such as an uprated Snecma M88-3
engine and Thales electro-optical system
for Rafale. The Typhoon future
roadmap includes conformal tanks, a
new generation targeting pod and a
passive automatic terrain following
system. The latter is a baseline South
Koran air force requirement.
Boeing, in response, is stressing
that the F-15E will remain a fully operational
part of the US weapon
inventory to 2030 and beyond. The
South Korean Eagle will feature several
improvements which have caught
the attention of the USAF, such as a
new radar warning receiver, jammer
and Lockheed Martin Tiger Eyes electro-
optic package encompassing a
third generation forward looking infrared,
search and track and targeting
pod. The USAF is starting to outline a
mid-life update, at the heart of which
would be an active electronically
steerable array radar to replace the
F-15K's Raytheon APG-63(V)1 radar.
The South Korean air force has
asked for an accompanying package
of advanced weapons, with Washington
offering for the first time the
Boeing SLAM-ER and Europe the
Matra BAE System Storm Shadow/
Apache stand-off weapon.
The air-to-air arena has proven
more controversial with the USA
refusing to equip Rafale with the
Raytheon AIM-120C AMRAAM and
only reluctantly consenting to
Typhoon as the result of a previous
integration deal with the four
Eurofighter nations. Still unclear is
South Korean access to GPS, IFF and
multifunction information distribution
system data for a non-US fighter.
South Korea had originally asked
for a 30% offset package against the
F-X and in April raised this to 70% to
accommodate KAI, but in reality com-
