Agencies, SEOUL: South Korea Friday unveiled its ambition to procure fifth-generation fighter jets, F-22 and F-35, made by Lockheed Martin of the United States to keep up with the air superiority of neighboring powers.
Japan is aggressively pushing for the purchase of F-22 fighters, which can evade radar and carry out various attacks, citing growing threats from China and North Korea.
A senior U.S. official said that the issue will be discussed in a summit between U.S. President George W. Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this week.
“China is modernizing its air force at a rapid pace,” said Dennis Wilder, senior director for East Asian Affairs at the White House National Security Council. “And so we are very positively disposed to talking to the Japanese about future-generation fighter aircraft.”
Foreign sales of the F-22 Raptor, nicknamed “dream fighter jet,” are currently banned by U.S. law to curb technology leaks.
South Korean defense officials are paying keen attention to Japan's move. “The U.S. Congress has yet to make a decision on whether to lift the ban,” Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo told reporters here. “We will have to look at its decision.” He said South Korea needs to stop falling behind Japan and build up comparable air force firepower.
“Under South Korea's defense reform plan, it is due to acquire fighter jets with a capacity equivalent to that of the F-15K, and then seek the purchase of fifth-generation ones,” he said.
Kim would not elaborate on whether Japan's move will affect Seoul's plan to introduce 20 additional combat planes by 2012.
South Korea has been widely expected to sign another contract with Boeing Co. in an extension of its FX project, in which it signed a deal to buy 40 F-15Ks from Boeing by 2008.
Boeing was the only company to show interest in the second phase of the FX project, and Seoul's defense procurement agency is inviting foreign bids again. Kim said Boeing is not a guaranteed successful bidder yet, adding, “it can be judged after reviewing bid proposals by other companies.”
In an interview with Yonhap News Agency earlier this week in Beijing, Kim admitted that the F-15 model is outdated in comparison with the F-22 and F-35.
His comments were construed as hinting at the possibility that South Korea may delay the purchase of additional fighter jets.
In a show of their strengthening military ties, meanwhile, the U.S. and Japan will begin two-day joint air force drills Thursday involving a squadron of F-22A stealth fighters temporally deployed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa.
The exercise, to be joined by more than fighters including F-4, F-15, and F-22A, aims at improving the interoperability of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force and the U.S. Air Force.
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