Bush visit may lead to a victory for Boeing in fighter jet project

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Bush visit may lead to a victory for Boeing in fighter jet project

The visit of President George W. Bush of the United States could be the decisive factor in Seoul's plan to buy a next-generation fighter jet for the air force. With the final selection to be made by the end of March, the U.S.-based Boeing Co. should benefit from Mr. Bush's timely visit to Seoul, observers said.

The Ministry of National Defense said the project, code-named F-X, is unlikely to be discussed at the Kim-Bush summit on Wednesday to avoid public criticism. In November, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld indirectly pressured the national defense minister, Kim Dong-shin, to purchase Boeing's F-15K fighters at the annual Security Consultative Meeting in Washington. Mr. Rumsfeld's urging was heavily criticized in the South Korean press.

Peter Rodman, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs who is traveling with Mr. Bush, may ask Seoul to select the Boeing jet through unofficial channels, observers in the National Defense Ministry said. "If Mr. Bush's team brings up the F-X project, we will again state our intention to fairly evaluate each of the competing aircraft," a ministry source said.

The ministry has said it would conduct a comparative study of performance and cost of multi-role jets offered by four foreign bidders and select the best of the group. In addition to the F-15K, the Russian-built Sukhoi Su-35, the French-made Dassault Rafale and the European consortium's Eurofighter Typhoon are competing for the contract. Unless one warplane scores at least 3 percent higher than the rest of the field, Seoul will reportedly buy the Boeing jet based on its interoperability. A senior military official said none of the jets has distinguished itself from the field so far.

Some defense analysts speculated that the ministry's extension of the selection deadline for the fighter project was timed to coincide with Mr. Bush's visit in hope of using the contract as a tool in negotiations with Washington.

by Kim Min-seok

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