South Korea's ministry of national defence (MND) has shelved its long-standing E-X airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) requirement until 2005, while indefinitely postponing a decision on the AH-X attack helicopter.
In its latest five-year plan to the end of 2007, the MND says it does not expect to field a four-strong AEW&C fleet until 2011. MND sources suggest the first aircraft could be received by around 2008, with further deliveries at about one a year.
Work on the 1.8 trillion won ($1.37 billion) E-X requirement was stepped up in late 2000 with plans for a selection this year, but the fall of the Korean won against the US dollar and defence budget cuts have forced the delay.
Participating in the most recent E-X tender were Boeing and Northrop Grumman, offering the 737 equipped with the MESA radar, Raytheon with an Airbus A321 equipped with the Elta Phalcon radar and Thales with a A320-based system.
The MND says it is "unknown" when South Korea will move forward with the AH-X, which pitched Boeing's AH-64D Apache Longbow against the Bell AH-1Z Cobra and Kamov Ka-52K. It emerged late last year that funding for the AH-X had already been removed from the 2002 budget, but the MND hinted the project could be resurrected in 2004.
Complicating the picture is the South Korean armed forces' longer-term need for around 400 multi-purpose helicopters. This is supposed to be satisfied by the proposed indigenous KMH, to be developed using technology transferred as offset against the AH-X purchase. "We will not stop the AH-X programme," stresses the MND. Surviving the cull is the flagship F-X multirole fighter. A decision is due in April between the Boeing F-15K, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and Sukhoi Su-35.
Source: Flight International
