SEOUL, South Korea \u2014\u00a0South Korean defense officials are in a quandary over how to acquire an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, a key component for the country’s fighter development program code-named KF-X, following the US refusal\u00a0to transfer the advanced radar technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Korea had expected \u00a0to it would be able to <\/span>learn the AESA technology for the KF-X jet through offset deals connected to its\u00a0F-X III contract to buy 40 Lockheed Martin-built F-35As. through the Foreign Military Sales program.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n South Korea seeks to develop a twin-engine KF-X fighter jet on par with the F-16 and produce\u00a0120 units starting in 2025 to replace its\u00a0the aging fleet of <\/span>F-4 and F-5 fleets. aircraft. <\/span>The fighter <\/span>project is estimated to cost some US $16 billion. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the US government refused to transfer says no to transferring <\/span>four out <\/span>of the 25 fighter technologies South Korea wanted, citing the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. Those technologies concerned AESA, an electro-optical targeting pod, infrared search-and-rescue systems, and a radio frequency jammer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition (ADEX), which ran from Oct. 20 to 25, here, against that backdrop, <\/span>European radar makers sought were trying <\/span>to woo South Koreans apparently disappointed by the US.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sweden’s Saab offered to develop an AESA with South Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We’ve done the flight test with the backend system and antenna elements,” said Tom Bratt, marketing executive of Saab Electronic Defence Systems. “We’re ready to go to the next phase once we have a platform available. Then we can start to make all the proper integrations.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bratt said Saab could complete the development of the AESA system with South Korea, as the Swedish company had been engaged in a joint study on the radar AESA <\/span>with the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), which is affiliated with South Korea\u2019s arms agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Once we have a contract, it will take about two years to deliver the first system,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finmeccanica’s Selex is pitching its Captor-E radar fitted for\u00a0the Eurofighter Typhoon.\u00a0The British and Italian aerospace group recommends Seoul adopt the Selex radar and subsequently localize it in phases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The bottom line is we’ll try to meet the Korean demands as much as we can,” a Selex official said on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The best option right now is for Korea to produce the Captor-E radar under license first, and with Selex’s tech transfer, Korea would be able to localize the AESA technology,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Israel also has joined the is bidding\u00a0for the AESA <\/span>radar competition, capitalizing on its previous works with South Korea. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) supplied its EL\/M-2032 pulse Doppler radar for the FA-50 jet, a light\u00a0armed variant of the T-50 supersonic trainer aircraft. The company now is offering\u00a0IAI offers <\/span>the EL\/M-2052 airborne AESA fire control radar for the KF-X plane.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We’re willing and looking forward to cooperating with Korea,” said Igal Karny, deputy director of Elta Systems’ marketing and sales division.\u00a0“The whole radar is our radar. We’re exporting the radar according to our regulations,” Karny said, apparently referring to Korea’s wariness\u00a0of AESA export control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike European and Israeli firms, US radar manufacturers were cautious when\u00a0talking about AESA cooperation with Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I can only tell you that right now we don’t have a license required for us to discuss KF-X radar cooperation,” a Raytheon official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Northrop Grumman was a bit more active in participating in the KF-X effort, as it seeks to sell its scalable agile beam radar to Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We\u2019re very interested in it, and we\u2019re following the [KF-X]\u00a0program actually,” said Paul B. <\/span>Kalafos, Jr.,<\/span> vice president of Northrop Grumman\u2019s electronics systems. “We have a long partnership with Korea, and we want to be here for a long time in the long-term view.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), which is in charge of KF-X integration,\u00a0puts a priority first on reducing risk\u00a0before\u00a0in the wake of <\/span>locally developing an indigenous AESA system.\u00a0KAI favors buying an AESA either from the US or other nations to develop a KF-X prototype.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We favor a two-track approach toward acquiring AESA technology,” a KAI spokesman said.\u00a0“We can develop a KF-X jet equipped with either US or European AESA system over the next five years,” he said. “In the meantime, the ADD and a foreign radar company could push for developing an indigenous AESA within 10 years at the earliest, so the next KF-X block models would be fitted with the locally\u00a0developed radar.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The presidential office backs the two-track approach as\u00a0a way of easing brushing <\/span>public anger\u00a0over US rejection of tech transfer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I believe we can develop our own AESA and other key technologies within 10 years,” National Security Adviser Kim Kwan-jin said in a National Assembly audit Oct. 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We\u2019re seeking technical assistance from a foreign partner in order to manage or reduce risks of independent development of key systems,” he said, adding the ADD has implemented preliminary<\/span> research and development of AESA since 2006.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ADD has been is <\/span>in contact with radar companies from the US, Europe and Israel to find ways of purchasing an AESA system\u00a0purchase <\/span>and gaining technical cooperation, according to sources. A selected partner company is expected to work with LIG Nex1, a precision weapons maker, to develop an indigenous AESA.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n