Archives by date > 2013 > April > 7th

Korea’s F-X Multi-Role Fighter Buys: Phases 2 & 3

Apr 07, 2013 19:49 UTC

F-15K Past, Now, Future
F-15K Poster: apropos?

The ROKAF (Republic of Korea Air Force) originally planned to buy 120 advanced, high-end fighters as its next-generation platform, in order to replace its existing fleet of F-4 Phantom IIs and other aircraft. So far, it has bought 60 fighters in 2 phases. Back in 2002, the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) selected the F-15K advanced derivative of the F-15E Strike Eagle for its Next Generation Fighter Program, and bought 40. In 2008, a 2nd contract was signed for 20 more F-15ks, with slight modifications.

Now the 3rd phase looms, and the question is whether it will be a variant of their existing fleet, or something new. While the DAPA procurement agency dreamed of developing their own “5th generation” aircraft for Phase 3, reality eventually had its say. Now, foreign manufacturers are offering the ROKAF a number of options.

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Singapore’s RSAF Decides to Fly Like An Eagle

Apr 07, 2013 18:48 UTC

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F-15SG
F-15SG, armed

At the dawn of the 21st century, Singapore decided that it needed a new aircraft to replace its often-upgraded A-4SU Super Skyhawks. This was hardly surprising; John McCain had been flying an older model A-4 Skyhawk when he was shot down during the Vietnam War. The decision to require a twin-engine aircraft eliminated the JAS-39 Gripen and F-16E/F Block 60 from the competition, and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Sukhoi Su-30 family were also scratched. That left just 3 finalists: Boeing’s F-15 Strike Eagle, France’s Rafale, and the Eurofighter Typhoon. Limited air-to-ground capabilities and a slow upgrade schedule splashed the Eurofighter, leaving just 2 contenders still flying.

September 2005 releases tapped Boeing as the winner, and the deal was done in December 2005. The order eventually rose to 24 planes, which was good news for Boeing: Singapore’s F-15SGs, and South Korea’s 2 F-15K orders, kept the assembly line open long enough for a huge win in Saudi Arabia, and more orders from Asia. Singapore has legitimate grounds to argue that they currently fly the world’s most advanced version of the F-15 Strike Eagle, and they recently decided to buy more, instead of ordering the short-takeoff F-35B stealth fighter.

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Eurofighter’s Future: Tranche 3, and Beyond

Apr 07, 2013 13:00 UTC

Italian Eurofighters
Italian Eurofighters

The multi-national Eurofighter Typhoon has been described as the aerodynamic apotheosis of lessons learned from the twin engine “teen series” fighters that began with the F-14 and F-15, continued with the emergence of the F/A-18 Hornet, and extends through to the most recent F/A-18 Super Hornet variants. Aerodynamically, it’s a half generation ahead of all of these examples, and planned evolutions will place the Eurofighter near or beyond parity in electronic systems and weapons.

The 1998 production agreement among its 4 member countries involved 620 aircraft, built with progressively improved capabilities over 3 contract “tranches”. By the end of Tranche 2, however, welfare state programs and debt burdens hd made it difficult to afford the 236 fighters remaining in the 4-nation Eurofighter agreement. A 2009 compromise was found in the EUR 9 billion “Tranche 3A” buy, and the program has renewed its efforts to secure serious export sales. Their success will affect the platform’s production line in the near term, and its modernization plans beyond that.

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Korea’s KDX-III AEGIS Destroyers

Apr 07, 2013 12:06 UTC

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DDG-991, RIMPAC 2010
ROKS King Sejong the Great,
RIMPAC 2010

KDX (Korean Destroyer eXperimental) is the Republic of Korea’s big surface combatant shipbuilding program. This 3-phased program involves 3 individual classes of ships. The 3 KDX-I Gwanggaeto the Great Class ships are called destroyers, but at 3,800 tons, their size and armament more properly rank them as small frigates. The last ship of class was commissioned in 2000. The next 6 KDX-II Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin Class ships are indeed destroyers at 6,085 tons full load, with a hull design licensed from Germany’s IABG, and more advanced systems that include SM-2 air defense missiles. They were commissioned between 2003-2008.

With that experience under their belts, Korea entered the 3rd phase of the program. Their KDX-III King Sejong the Great Class destroyers weigh in at 8,500 tons standard displacement and 11,000 tons full load. That’s heavier than the USA’s CG-47 Ticonderoga Class cruisers, making them the largest ships in the world to carry Lockheed Martin’s AEGIS combat system. They’ll form the high end of South Korea’s Navy, while offering a premium showcase for some of the new weapons and electronic systems developed by South Korea’s defense sector.

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