, Boeing Co., the world's largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft, plans to bid to supply Korea's air force with 20 next-generation fighter jets, company officials said Monday (Feb. 12).
The U.S. company plans to team up with 15 Korean partner firms for the bid, said Steve Winkler, director for F-15 production.
Last month, Seoul announced a plan to purchase 20 F-15K-level fighter jets around 2010-2012 through international bidding, a project to cost around 2.3 trillion won ($2.4 billion).
The project follows Seoul's contract with Boeing in 2002 to buy 40 F-15K jets for $4.6 billion. Eighteen jets have been delivered since October 2005, with the remainder to arrive here by 2008.
Korea aims to introduce a total of 120 next-generation fighter jets as part of its blueprint for overhauling the military's structure and drastically increasing combat capability by 2020.
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