via The Chicago Tribune.
WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea is nearing a decision to buy some Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets, but will likely keep its options open for a limited purchase of Boeing Co's F-15, sources familiar with the country's fighter competition said on Wednesday.Read the entire article here.
South Korean officials could announce their plans as early as November to secure the funding needed to ensure initial deliveries of the F-35 in 2017, according to multiple sources who were not authorized to speak publicly. They cautioned that the decisions were not yet final, and an announcement could still be postponed if the decision-making process hits a snag.
South Korea's fighter competition has been closely watched given its importance to Boeing, which is keen to extend its F-15 production line beyond 2016, and to Lockheed, which is trying to drive down the price of the F-35 by securing more buyers.
Boeing's new F-15 Silent Eagle model was the only bid that came in under South Korea's budget cap of 8.3 trillion won ($7.2 billion). However, Seoul last month rejected that offer and said it needed a fifth-generation warplane that is nearly invisible to enemy radar - a move widely seen as an endorsement of the F-35.
Europe's Eurofighter also plans to bid again for the order, but the head of Europe's EADS acknowledged last month that the company faced a tough battle against its U.S. rivals.
South Korean officials have said they are examining a mixed procurement approach that could help Seoul maintain sufficient numbers of fighters in its fleet if the F-35 runs into further delays. They are also looking at scaling back the size of the order to 40 or 50 planes.
A few of my takeaways.
1. We're looking at another nation that is reducing the size of its F-35 purchase. Interesting. The death spiral is still here.
2. The F-15 Silent Eagle is still in the running and a split buy tells me that further delays in the F-35 are being anticipated.
3. I monitor S. Korean news and this is turning into a scandal. I don't know if this is true but if it is and they're going to make an announcement of buying the F-35 then someone is going to go to jail. The S. Koreans have a very dim view of public corruption. I wish we did.
I wonder how many cushy jobs Lockheed Martin promised to get the Korean Air Force onboard? I wonder how many bribes were paid? I wonder if there is anything that corporation won't do to get this modern day Dodo bird across the finish line.
