Airframe and radar manufacturers are once again beating a path to Seoul as the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) rekindles its dormant requirement for an airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) aircraft with the release to industry of a request for proposals (RFP).
Manufacturers have until February to respond to the RFP with a source selection and contract award scheduled for 2002. The South Korean ministry of defence has budgeted 1.8 trillion won ($1.6 billion) to acquire four E-X platforms by 2008, sufficient to support a single orbit over the Korean peninsula.
In 1996 the ROKAF shortlisted three contenders - the Boeing E-767 fitted with the Northrop Grumman APY-2 radar, an Elta Phalcon-equipped 767 and the Ericsson Erieye mounted on the Saab 2000 turboprop. The Asian financial crisis resulted in the E-X programme being shelved.
The number of AEW&C solutions has grown in the interim with nine potential bidders now being briefed by South Korea. Among the new players is Gulfstream teamed with Elta to offer the GV equipped with a repackaged Phalcon radar. The two companies are already competing to supply an intelligence platform to Israel based on the same aircraft.
Israel Aircraft Industries had earlier dropped the 767 in favour of a joint bid with Raytheon of Airbus A310s equipped with a dorsal Phalcon array. The A310/Phalcon is competing for a Turkish order, but in the light of Elta's tie-up with Gulfstream, it is unclear if this is still on the table in South Korea.
Boeing has downsized its offering to the 737 equipped with the Northrop Grumman and MESA phased-array radar based on the system selected by Australia and competing for the Turkish order. With the Saab 2000 no longer in production, Ericsson has teamed with Embraer to offer the EMB-145SA equipped with the Erieye, as selected by Brazil and Greece.
Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems and Aerostructures sector say they are evaluating the request before deciding on a response. The former previously unsuccessfully bid the APS-145-equipped C-130J to South Korea, while the latter is looking at alternative platforms to its carrier-capable E-2C such as the Fairchild Dornier 928JET.
The South Korean defence ministry says that other invitees include Thomson-CSF and Russia's Promexport.
Source: Flight International
