South Korea will purchase additional F-35 and build its UDC
South Korea will acquire another 20 F-35 aircraft as part of the next stage of the transaction to upgrade its fighter fleet for fifth-generation aircraft. This was reported by the portal DefenseNews.
Seoul signed a contract with Washington, under which it will acquire an additional batch of stealth fifth generation fighters. Most likely, the South Asian state will acquire the standard version of the F-35A, and not the F-35B with a short take-off and vertical landing, as was previously expected.
The transaction, called FX III, is the exercise of an option to an existing agreement. Earlier, in the 2014 year, South Korea ordered 40 F-35A aircraft worth $ 6,4 billion, with the F-35 deliveries under this contract already starting this year. Buying additional cars will cost Seoul another 3,3 billion dollars.
To date, the country's air force received eight F-35A aircraft. South Korea will receive five more aircraft by the end of the year. At 2020, Washington will transfer 14 machines to its Asian ally, and the remaining 13 will be delivered in 2021. In addition, Seoul is considering two projects for the construction of aircraft carriers, the “light” one, with a total displacement of slightly more than 40 000 tons and a wing of 12 aircraft, and a medium one with a displacement of 71 400 tons, and the wing will be represented by 32 aircraft and 8 helicopters.
The decision to purchase more F-35A was made on the basis of a report prepared by the Korean Military Analysis Institute KIDA.
Initially, it was assumed that the additional F-35 will be delivered in the STOVL version, that is, in the version with a shortened take-off and vertical landing: thanks to the presence of such machines, universal landing ships can be converted into light aircraft carriers. However, there are two problems with this machine at the moment.
- writes the publication DefenseNews, citing a source in the Ministry of Defense of South Korea.
In July, the South Korean military approved a plan to build the largest universal landing ship in stories countries as part of their long-term strength-building program. The displacement of the promising ship will be 30 000 tons, which is twice as much as the previous two - their displacement was 14 500 tons.
North Korea previously condemned the deployment of the F-35 in South Korea. In recent months, the DPRK has conducted a series of tests of new short-range ballistic missiles. According to experts, weapon It is aimed, in particular, at the F-35 base. In July, Pyongyang threatened to destroy all F-35A arriving in South Korea.
Seoul signed a contract with Washington, under which it will acquire an additional batch of stealth fifth generation fighters. Most likely, the South Asian state will acquire the standard version of the F-35A, and not the F-35B with a short take-off and vertical landing, as was previously expected.
The transaction, called FX III, is the exercise of an option to an existing agreement. Earlier, in the 2014 year, South Korea ordered 40 F-35A aircraft worth $ 6,4 billion, with the F-35 deliveries under this contract already starting this year. Buying additional cars will cost Seoul another 3,3 billion dollars.
40 F-35 until 2021 year
To date, the country's air force received eight F-35A aircraft. South Korea will receive five more aircraft by the end of the year. At 2020, Washington will transfer 14 machines to its Asian ally, and the remaining 13 will be delivered in 2021. In addition, Seoul is considering two projects for the construction of aircraft carriers, the “light” one, with a total displacement of slightly more than 40 000 tons and a wing of 12 aircraft, and a medium one with a displacement of 71 400 tons, and the wing will be represented by 32 aircraft and 8 helicopters.
The decision to purchase more F-35A was made on the basis of a report prepared by the Korean Military Analysis Institute KIDA.
Initially, it was assumed that the additional F-35 will be delivered in the STOVL version, that is, in the version with a shortened take-off and vertical landing: thanks to the presence of such machines, universal landing ships can be converted into light aircraft carriers. However, there are two problems with this machine at the moment.
Firstly, the F-35B is more expensive than the regular version. Secondly, the construction of the UDC is still a long way off.
- writes the publication DefenseNews, citing a source in the Ministry of Defense of South Korea.
In July, the South Korean military approved a plan to build the largest universal landing ship in stories countries as part of their long-term strength-building program. The displacement of the promising ship will be 30 000 tons, which is twice as much as the previous two - their displacement was 14 500 tons.
North Korea previously condemned the deployment of the F-35 in South Korea. In recent months, the DPRK has conducted a series of tests of new short-range ballistic missiles. According to experts, weapon It is aimed, in particular, at the F-35 base. In July, Pyongyang threatened to destroy all F-35A arriving in South Korea.
Information