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| The Joint
Chiefs of Staff reached the decision to take the C-103 twin-engine
platform over the single-engine one, putting an end to a long-drawn-out
heated debate, according to the ministry. |
SEOUL-(IDB) : The
South Korean military has chosen to equip its future fighter jet with
two engines instead of one amid lingering worries over the economic and
technical merits of the twin-engine aircraft development.
The Joint
Chiefs of Staff (JCS) held a top decision-making council Friday to make a
choice about the number of engines for the KF-X jet, which is to be
developed indigenously with technical assistance from a foreign partner.
South Korea
aims to produce 120 or more KF-X aircraft after 2025 to replace the Air
Force’s aging F-4s and F-5s, most of which will be decommissioned before
the mid-2020s. The KF-X could be on par with an advanced F-16 jet armed
with high-end avionics systems.
“The JCS formed
a task force to review the costs, requirements and development
schedules for the KF-X over the eight months,” JCS spokesman Eom Hyo-sik
said. “As a result, the task force reached a decision that a
twin-engine aircraft is a right choice as it meets future operational
needs and can help catch up with neighboring countries’ aircraft
development trends.”
Given the
potential development period for a twin-engine jet, the spokesman said,
the KF-X jet’s initial operating capability is to be scheduled for 2025,
a two-year delay from the original goal.
The Defense
Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) is set to launch a bid for the
engine contract as early as next month. Candidates would include the GE
F414 and Eurojet EJ200, according to DAPA officials.
The JCS’
decision on the twin-engine platform comes amid heated debate over the
feasibility of the KF-X jet development. The state-funded Korea
Institute for Defense Analysis (KIDA) vehemently opposed the twin-engine
design, citing high costs and technical challenges.
The KIDA
assessed the KF-X development would cost about 9.6 trillion won (US $93
billion), but it expects the cost would be doubled if the jet is a
twin-engine design.
The institute
also claims an F-16 class jet with double engines doesn’t have a
competitive edge in the export market dominated by US and European
fighter aircraft.
“A new fighter
aircraft is a massive endeavor at the best of times, and wildly
unrealistic technical expectations do not help the project,” Lee
Ju-hyung, a senior researcher at the KIDA said.
Kim Dae-young, a
member of the Korea Defense and Security Forum, a Seoul-based private
think tank, was worried if potential cost overruns would eventually
hinder the development of indigenous avionics systems.
“Under the
original KF-X plan, [active electronically scanned array] radars and
other avionics shall be developed locally, but if development costs
increase, those systems are likely to be adopted from foreign defense
companies inevitably,” Kim said.
Korea Aerospace
Industries (KAI) also preferred a single-engine type on the basis of
its T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer jet co-developed by Lockheed
Martin. In recent years, KAI successfully fielded T-50’s lightweight
fighter version, the FA-50, which were exported to Indonesia and the
Philippines.
During an air and defense fair in October, KAI displayed a conceptual design with a 29,000-pound engine.
“A
single-engine concept is in pursuance of both affordability and combat
performance based on the advanced FA-50 technologies,” a KAI official
said.
On the other
hand, the Air Force, backed by the state-run Agency for Defense
Development (ADD), brushed off concerns over costs overruns and
technical difficulties.
“The KF-X is a
4.5-generation fighter that can carry weapons of 20,000 pounds or more,”
an Air Force spokesman said. “Indonesia, a partner of the KF-X project,
is supposed to buy a bunch of jets, and when mass production starts,
the costs will go down.”
The spokesman
added that a twin-engine aircraft larger than the KF-16 will provide
more room for future upgrades and will help cope with growing air powers
in the neighborhood — China and Japan — which are accelerating air
force modernization.
Lee Dae-yeol,
head of ADD’s KF-X project team, argues that a fighter with a new
concept has better economic feasibility in terms of total life-cycle
costs.
“The ADD has
secured about 90 percent of independent technologies for the KF-X,” Lee
noted. “Of the 432 technologies needed, the agency is only short of 48
items, such as engines and some avionics systems.”
The ADD hopes
that it will be able to get those lacking technologies in offsets from
Lockheed Martin, the successful bidder for South Korea’s F-X III fighter
jet development program, and other foreign companies.
The ADD
envisions that a KF-X Block 2 would have internal weapons bay, and Block
3 would feature stealth improvements to the level of the B-2 bomber or
F-35 joint strike fighter.
Indonesia is
the only KF-X partner at the moment. Indonesia is to bear 20 percent of
the projected development costs, while the Korean government will take
60 percent. The funding for the remaining 20 percent remains unclear, as
KAI is expected to bear part of the money.
