SEOUL, South Korea \u2014 The mega-competition to build South Korea’s indigenous fighter jet, dubbed KF-X, kicked off on Feb. 9. But the first round of bidding in the country’s largest-ever arms procurement deal failed due to an insufficient number of participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only the team of Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Lockheed Martin submitted a proposal for the KF-X program by the deadline, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). Under the local procurement rules, all defense development and manufacturing programs must have at least two bidders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second round of bidding, which will close Feb.ruary<\/span> 24, is expected to be a two-way race as the national flag-carrier <\/span>Korean Air vows to lodge its bid in collaboration with Airbus Defence and Space, a military aircraft division affiliated with the Airbus Group<\/span>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Without a competitor, the KAI-Lockheed team would win is to win <\/span>the 8.6 trillion won (US $7.8 billion) project for developing an F-16 class twin-engine fighter aircraft over the next eight years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n About 120 fighters are scheduled to be produced after 2023 to replace the <\/span>aging fleet of <\/span>F-4s and F-5s. Indonesia will provide 20 percent of the development costs, with a domestic company covering 20 percent, and the government supporting the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We’re preparing to submit a proposal by the deadline of the second round of bidding, in collaboration with Airbus Defence and Space,” a Korean Air spokesman said, adding his company signed an agreement with the European defense firm for the KF-X partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The carrier’s aerospace division has long manufactured a variety of military aircraft, such as the MD 500 helicopter, F-5 fighter aircraft <\/span>and UH-60 helicopter, under licensed agreements. The division is <\/span>also specializes in research and development of unmanned aerial vehicles as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul MRO <\/span>services for both commercial and military aircraft. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Airbus Group aims for a comeback to the Korean market after it was defeated by Lockheed Martin in the F-X III contest in 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Eurofighter consortium’s Typhoon was a dark horse in the contest, insisting it had on advantage of <\/span>lenient technology transfer restrictions, but it was priced out later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Boeing had been thought to join hands with Korean Air, offering the F\/A-18E\/F<\/span> Super Hornet as a reconfiguration platform for the KF-X. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the Seoul government favored a KF-X based on a new design, aircraft platform, <\/span>which demoralized the Chicago-based firm’s bid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the Korean Air team’s challenge, KAI-Lockheed Martin has is in <\/span>the upper hand in the competition, which is the largest ever arms deal in the South Korean arms procurement history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n KAI successfully developed the T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer jet and exported scores of T-50s. It has also deployed T-50’s light combat variant, FA-50, with the South Korean Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lockheed Martin, which won the F-X III contract to sell for <\/span>40 F-35A joint strike fighters, has already been linked to the KF-X program, as it is obliged to transfer key aircraft technologies to South Korea as part of the F-X III offset agreements <\/p>\n\n\n\n “KAI is equipped with better infrastructure than it had after it developed the T-50,” Ha Sung-yong, president of KAI, said at a press conference on Jan. 28. “We’re confident that we can meet the deadline and cost for the KF-X development.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many experts bet on the KAI-Lockheed team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It’s kind of a one-sided game already,” Kim Dae-young, a researching member of the Korea Defense & Security Forum, a Seoul-based private defense think-tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “KAI has a good experience of developing numerous aircraft, such as the T-50 jet and the Surion troop-carrying helicopter,” Kim said. “Lockheed Martin, for its part, has a proven record of building a fighter jet in partnership with foreign governments, including South Korea for the T-50, and Taiwan for the AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The only variable for the KF-X race is the budgetary issue, Kim added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “There is still a question mark about if the KAI team could succeed in developing an advanced fighter within the budget of some $8 billion, in such a short period of time for just eight years,” he noted. “Developing a fighter jet involves lots of technical and financial challenges, and if the KF-X requires a new design and high-tech sensor systems, that could mean more money.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n After years of debates, the DAPA set the KF-X design as a C-103 concept powered by two 18,000-pound engines. The rub is both KAI and Lockheed Martin still prefer a single-engine concept, dubbed C501, which is to be built based on the FA-50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The state-funded Korea Institute for Defense Analyses also backs the single-engine design, referring to technical challenges for developing an aircraft that could compete with US and European fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “A new jet fighter is a massive endeavor at the best of times, and widely unrealistic technical expectations do not help the project,” said Lee Joo-hyung, a researcher at the institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), in charge of state weapons development plans, calls for developing a two-engine fighter for future upgrades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ADD envisions the second phase of the KF-X program equipped with better radar-evading technologies. The KF-X Block 2 would have internal weapon bays, and Block 3 would feature further stealth improvements to the level of the B-2 bomber or F-35, according to Lee Dae-yeol, head of ADD’s aircraft systems development bureau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n