It's official! Boeing wins deal

Boeing's F-15K Eagle is officially selected as the South Korean Air Force's next-generation fighter jet, the National Defense Ministry announced Friday. By 2009, the government will spend at least $4 billion on 40 new warplanes to be powered by General Electric engines.

"The final decision for F-15K was made after the second round of evaluation with the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry, Commerce, Industry and Energy Ministry and other procurement bureaus," Hwang Eui-don, National Defense Ministry spokes-man, said. "In that evaluation, we took into account national security concerns, diplomatic matters and potential trade issues. As a result, F-15K outran its competitor."

The U.S.-made Boeing F-15K and French-built Dassault Rafale were the contenders in the "playoff," whose criteria favored Boeing.

Dassault charged that the South Korean government's choice was made "solely for South Korea-U.S. political considerations." Speaking by phone from Paris with the Joong-Ang Ilbo English Edition, the French firm's vice president Yves Robins repeatedly stressed that the initial evaluation was "never fair or transparent." He said his company would continue a lawsuit over the handling of the initial evaluation.

Dassault asked the Seoul District Court on April 4 for a preliminary injunction to stop Seoul from proceeding with the procurement project. The application is pending.

As a part of the F-X deal, the ministry also selected U.S. General Electric's F110-GE-129 over another American rival, Pratt & Whitney's F100-PW-229. Military experts criticized the selection as risky, because the GE engines have not been used on the U.S. Air Force's F-15 fighters. Eight USAF F-16s powered by GE engines have crashed due to defects; in comparison, only three Pratt & Whitney-powered KF-16s, assembled here, have been downed.

The contract term with General Electric requires the government to buy 16 spare engines, two more than Pratt & Whitney required, raising the cost of the engine purchase.

The National Defense Ministry plans to negotiate further terms with Boeing. The ministry hopes to raise the "offset" value of work performed in Korea from 65 percent, worth $2.9 billion, to 70 percent of the contract value, and to bargain down the total price to $4 billion. Boeing asked $4.5 billion to build 40 F-15Ks.

Presidential approval is scheduled at the end of May and a formal contract will be signed by early June.

by Kim Min-seok