News from the Republic of Korea

In September 2023, the US State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to the Republic of Korea of F-35A Lightning II and related equipment for an estimated cost of USD 5,1 billion.

The Republic of Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has now officially signed a contract to buy 20 additional F-35As, to equip an additional Dae Han Min Guk Gong Gun (RoKAF, Republic of Korea Air Force) squadron at Cheongju.

At this air base the 17th Fighter Wing operates the current fleet of 39 F-35As (one F-35A was written off after a birdstrike), flown by two squadrons, the 151st Fighter Squadron and the 152nd Fighter Squadron. Deliveries of the new batch are expected to begin in 2027.

Already in June 2020, the Korean Defense Project Promotion Committee approved the search for a new Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft to augment and possibly replace the RoKAF’s fleet of Boeing E-737 aircraft. DAPA later stated that a full domestic solution had been discounted. In December 2023, L3Harris teamed up with Korean Air and ELTA Systems from Israel to develop an AEW&C aircraft based on the Bombardier Global 6500. The first two aircraft will undergo structural modifications at the L3 facility in Texas, and system integration and radar testing at ELTA in Israel. Further aircraft will be fully modified in South Korea.

DAPA signed another contract with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) for an unspecified number of LAH Light Attack Helicopters, including technical support. The first contract covered the acquisition of ten examples with deliveries starting in the last quarter of 2024. The new LAH will replace the Hughes MD500 and Bell AH-1F in service with the Dae Han Min Guk Yuk Gun (RoK Army).

In December 2023, DAPA approved a plan to replace the Dae Han Min Guk Hae Gun’s (RoK Navy) fleet of Lynx Mk99 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters, with procurement starting in 2025. For the moment the idea is to acquire foreign made helicopters, such as the MH-60R Seahawk or the NH90-NFH. With the problematic track record of the NH90 it seems that Sikorsky has the best cards, also taking into account that both other services already operate H-60 variants for a long time. And lets see if KAI comes up with an indigenous design, based on the MUH-1.

Credit photos: Jochem Manders (Scramble Archive), Daniyar Atadjanov (via jetphotos.com), L3Harris