KAI Chosen As Preferred Bidder For S. Korean Fighter Jet Project

South Korea has picked Korea Aerospace Industires (KAI), supported by Lockheed Martin, as the preferred bidder for $16.3 billion project to develop indigenous fighter jets.

The $7.84 billion project, KF-X, calls for South Korea to develop fighter jets of the F-16 class to replace its aging fleet of F-4s and F-5s. Some 120 jets are to be put into service starting around 2025, with the production to cost $8.4 billion, the Korean Herald reported Monday.

KAI, in partnership with Airbus Defense and Space, vied against Seoul's top air carrier, Korean Air Lines Co., which teamed up with Lockheed Martin. The tender required participants to have a foreign technical assistance company.

"After reviewing their development plan, ability and bid price by the evaluation team comprised of government officials and experts, we've selected KAI as the preferred bidder," the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said.

The decision was approved at a defense project committee meeting presided over by Defense Minister Han Min-koo.

"We will make a final selection after completing negotiations on details to launch the project in the first half of this year," it added.

The defense ministry has also approved the $1.28 billion plan to upgrade the current PAC-2 air defense system and buy PAC-3 missiles by around 2020 as efforts to improve its anti-ballistic missile capabilities against threats.

DAPA officials said it will buy "hit-to-kill" PAC-3 missiles by Lockheed Martin, through the foreign military sale program adding the total number would be around 70.

The PAC-3 directly hits incoming missiles at an altitude of 40 kilometers, with a higher interception rate than PAC-2. The present system uses a blast-fragmentation warhead that could send debris from the exploded missile to the ground.

The procurement agency also selected Raytheon as the contractor to upgrade the PAC-2 fire control system to enable it to launch both PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptors by 2021.