South Korea's ministry of national defence has awarded Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and L-3 Communications a contract to upgrade eight ex-US Navy Lockheed Martin P-3B Orion maritime patrol aircraft (MPA).
KAI will be the prime contractor under the deal. Its bid with L-3 was preferred to one by Korean Air and Lockheed Martin (Flight International, 6-12 July). Under the so-called MPA Lot II programme, L-3's Integrated Systems division and KAI will provide eight P-3s and ground support systems that will operate alongside existing navy P-3s.
The aircraft will undergo service life extensions and have modern sensors and electronics.
NICHOLAS IONIDES / SINGAPORE
Source: Flight International
