Korea threatens to disqualify F-35

[spazsinbad]

I thought it was politely put as: "Terminate with extreme prejudice"?

[spazsinbad]

Pentagon, Lockheed in $7.8bn deal 29 Sep 2013 REUTERS

"...The F-35 remains in the running for a 60-jet South Korean fighter competition after Seoul this week rejected a bid by Boeing Co involving its F-15 Silent Eagle fighter jet.

South Korea would have to make a commitment by the end of 2013 to secure a place in the ninth low-rate production contract for F-35 jets and ensure delivery of the first planes in 2017, said one source familiar with the program.

The overall contract won’t be negotiated for some time, but the Pentagon plans to award a contract for early procurement of materials for the jet in coming months, said the source.

South Korean officials have been in touch informally with the US military to understand the timing question, said the source, who was not authorised to speak on the record.

A second source familiar with the F-35 programme said it typically takes about two years to build a jet, and there might be ways to accommodate Seoul if it decided to order jets after initial “advanced procurement” funds were awarded to start ordering parts for the ninth batch of jets. Lockheed’s main subcontractors on the programme are Northrop Grumman Corp and Britain’s BAE Systems Plc...."

http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/business/2 ... -deal.html

[popcorn]

EF still not certain to re-bid, Boeing won't sue.
Do SK procurement rules allow sole-source, negotiated purchases? That would seem to be the logical route, specially if EF and Boeing decline to participate leading to another failure of bidding and even more wasted time.

http://www.defensenews.com/article/2013 ... er-Contest

F-35 Back in S. Korea Fighter Contest

SEOUL — After it was dropped from consideration in South Korea’s fighter competition, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter appears to be back in the running after a Defense Ministry source cited the need to counter North Korea with a fifth-generation fighter...

The source added that South Korea and Lockheed are hoping to sign a letter of agreement in the next six to nine months, to meet South Korea’s deadline of receiving its first fighter by the end of 2017...


One potential solution that could salvage the Korean situation for Boeing — offering up another order of F-15Ks to the South Korean government as a stopgap before the country purchases the F-35. Australia has done something similar, with an announced plan to buy 12 EA-18G Growler electronic attack jets as a hedge against further JSF delays.

However, the source with knowledge of the situation said the South Korean Air Force has already considered, and rejected, the idea of splitting the buy.

“They just don’t want it,” the source said.

[popcorn]

Deleted

[spazsinbad]

Re-Visiting the South Korean Decision on the Silent Eagle 28 Sep 2013 SLDinfo

"...Now the South Korean government when announcing its decision highlighted the importance of the F-35 and its combat systems for shaping a new kill chain to deal with the threats of the Second Nuclear Age:

Briefing on the DAPEC’s decision regarding the F-X program will begin.

First, Baek Yoon-hyung DAPA spokesperson will announce the DAPEC decision

Baek Yoon-hyung
70th DAEPC, chaired by the MND minister Kim Kwan-jin, was held today at 1400 at the conference room at MND.

I will announce the decision for the F-X program.

“F-X program is a national weapon acquisition program to introduce fighters with high quality capabilities from overseas to prepare to deal with North Korean asymmetric combat power and seize the war initiative

Amongst three fighters including the F-15SE, F-35A, and Eurofighter, Boeing’s F-15SE was reported as the F-X project fighter candidate on the final selection candidate. However, the proposal was rejected after thorough discussion by DAPEC

DAPEC decided to reject the final project proposal after profound discussion about security circumstance and operation condition of Korea, based on the evaluation results on various categories such as mission execution capability and cost.

Going forward, MND and DAPA will collaborate with related agencies to re-execute the project as fast as possible to minimize the force vacuum. Suggested methods include quantity adjustment or total project budget modification.

This is all for the DAPEC decision on the F-X program

Kim Min-seok
The background for such decision is because majority of the DAPEC members agreed to reject it. Comprehensive evaluation result showed that, we need to consider north Korea’s asymmetric combat power like the nuclear weapons, recent security circumstances and global aerospace technology development trend and have decided to recommence the program

Especially we need to build kill chain as a key strategic power as a retaliation measure against ground provocation. Also we assessed that our Air Force should rise along with the global aerospace technology transition to the 5th generation.

Therefore, as mentioned before, we will re-execute the program while keeping in mind of following factors: Partial order adjustment, total project budget modification, minimize force vacuum, regulations and legislatures on the project re-execution.

For that, head of the MND strategic resources will be appointed as the T/F leader, and he will be working closely with the Chief of staff, Air Force, DAPA and associated parties to try to execute the program in the shortest time possible to avoid force gap.

The kill chain they have in mind is connecting the F-35 with ground assets — including missile defense — and could include sea-based Aegis systems to provide a comprehensive attack and defense enterprise against North Korean systems.

The South Korean government has decided to move forward towards this future."

http://www.sldinfo.com/re-visiting-the- ... ent-eagle/