by REERA YOO
South Korea announced on Wednesday that it plans to buy 40 F-35A fighter jets from Lockheed Martin for about $7 billion, reported Retuers.
South Korea agreed to the purchase in March and has since been negotiating over price, technology, quality and safety as well as conducting tests on the jets. Under the purchase deal, which has yet to be signed, Lockheed Martin will transfer fighter production technologies for South Korea’s $8.2 billion KF-X program to develop its own advanced fighter jets, said South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).
“We have agreed to acquire 40 jets within the total budget within the total budget and reflect all the terms negotiated during the 2013 competition,” DAPA said in a statement, adding that the new jets are expected to be delivered between 2018 and 2025.
This is the South Korea’s biggest weapons purchase to date and is designed to replace the country’s aging warplanes and to better defend itself from North Korea’s military threats. According to The New York Times, the country hopes to produce about 120 fighter jets similar to Lockheed’s F-16 Fighting Falcon for its air force, beginning 2025.
Last year, South Korea dropped an option to buy 60 of Boeing Co.’s F-15 jets at about $7 billion after deciding that the jets lacked the stealth capabilities needed to cope with North Korea’s nuclear threats.
Photo via Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
