South Korea to buy fighter jets, weapons systems to defend against North

Defense

Published: 13 Mar. 2023, 18:00 Updated: 13 Mar. 2023, 20:06

South Korea to buy fighter jets, weapons systems to defend against North

A F-35A stealth fighter jet from the South Korean Air Force fires a laser-guided GBU-12 in a demonstration of the force's ability to destroy North Korean missile transporter erector launchers during a drill on Nov. 18. [JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF]

South Korea plans to purchase more F-35A stealth fighter jets and other weapons systems to bolster the country’s deterrence capabilities against North Korea, the state arms procurement agency said Monday.

According to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), the project to purchase 20 F-35As, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, was approved by the agency’s defense acquisition program promotion committee at an afternoon meeting on Monday.

DAPA said that South Korea intends to order the F-35As through the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency’s (DSCA) Foreign Military Sales program.

Under the program, the DSCA serves as an intermediary between foreign governments and the contractor, ensuring equipment quality, confidentiality, delivery and training and support.

DAPA said that the latest F-35A acquisition project is expected to cost 3.75 trillion won ($2.8 billion) and be complete by 2028.

The South Korean Air Force currently operates 40 F-35As, which were delivered between 2019 and 2020 and cost approximately 7.77 trillion won.

The previous Moon Jae-in administration reviewed the idea of purchasing the F-35B, the short take-off and vertical landing-capable variant of the F-35, for use on a 30,000-ton South Korean Navy aircraft carrier envisioned in the CVX program. However, that idea appeared to have been shelved after the 2023 defense budget made no mention of CVX.

But the development of a domestic aircraft carrier may not have been entirely abandoned, as Seoul’s Defense Ministry responded to an inquiry by Democratic Party Rep. Jung Sung-ho that it will soon begin preliminary policy research on the feasibility of building a larger 50,000-ton aircraft carrier, according to a Wednesday report by SBS.

The Defense Ministry’s decision follows research by DAPA completed in January that concluded the development of a naval variant of the KF-21 Boramae, the country's first domestic supersonic multi-role fighter, is feasible.

The defense acquisition program promotion committee also decided Monday to buy Raytheon’s RIM-174 Standard Extended Range Active Missile interceptor system, also known as Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), to enhance the interception capabilities of the South Korean Navy’s KDX-III Batch-II destroyers, which are equipped with Aegis combat systems.

The SM-6 is designed for extended-range air defense against not only aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and anti-ship cruise missiles, but also terminal ballistic missile defense.

The Navy currently operates older SM-2 ship-to-air missile systems on its existing fleet of Aegis-equipped destroyers.

The SM-6 acquisition project is estimated to cost 770 billion won ($592 million) and expected to be complete by 2031.

The additional F-35A and SM-6 weapons systems whose purchase was approved by the DAPA committee are expected to strengthen the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation and Korea Air and Missile Defense components of the South Korean military's so-called “tri-axis” defense strategy, which is aimed at deterring armed provocations by North Korea.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]