GE to Supply Engines for South Korea's New Fighters
May 26 2016 - 6:30AM
Dow Jones News
SEOUL—General Electric Co. has clinched a deal to supply engines
for South Korea's next-generation fighter jets.
The U.S. conglomerate beat Eurojet Turbo GmbH, a European engine
maker, to provide the F414-GE-400 engines, South Korea's Defense
Acquisition Program Administration said Thursday. A final contract
will be signed next month, it said.
The agency didn't disclose the deal value, but a person familiar
with the matter estimated it at $3.5 billion.
The deal is part of one of South Korea's most ambitious
weapons-development programs. The project, Korean Fighter
Experimental, or KF-X, is part of Seoul's plans to replace its
decades-old fleet of F-4s and F-5s.
Korea officially launched the KF-X project early last year with
plans to develop its own fighter jet by 2025, but it pushed back
the target date because of a dispute with the U.S. over the
transfer of key technology. It now plans to deploy 120 fighter jets
by 2032.
A consortium of Korea Aerospace Industries, the country's sole
military aircraft maker, and its technology-support partner,
Lockheed Martin Corp., is leading the project.
Officials at Seoul's arms-procurement agency said they would
develop, acquire or localize all technologies needed for the
project, but concerns remain over whether they can do so because
Washington is reluctant to allow Lockheed to transfer key
technologies related to radar and other core components.
As for the jet engines, Korea will initially purchase them from
GE, which will later transfer the technology to local arms
manufacturer Hanwha Thales Co. for production, the officials
said.
Write to In-Soo Nam at In-Soo.Nam@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 26, 2016 06:15 ET (10:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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