With the “final” bidding for Korea’s next-generation fighter program underway, the procurement price of 8.3 trillion won ($7.5 billion) is taking center stage, which puts Boeing’s F-15 Silent Eagle (SE) within the contender position.
However, military watchers say that a cost-focused choice of 60 F-15 SEs may doom the Korean Air force’s goal of boosting its strength as a result of lesser capabilities than those being hyped.
The F-15 is up against Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II and the ecu Aeronautic Defense and Space Company’s (EADS) Eurofighter Tranche 3 Typhoon inside the Air Force program to purchase 60 combat planes to switch its obsolete fleet of F-4s and F-5s.
The three-day bidding started Tuesday and is scheduled to last through Friday.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) performed a complete of 55 bidding sessions for 3 weeks between June and July, but no offer was throughout the required budget, with Boeing reportedly being closest to the ceiling price.
“Although price accounts for less than 15 percent within the selection process, it completely controls the bidding, which is unnecessary,” said Shin In-kyun, president of the Korea Defense Network.
“The defense industry is worried that the arms procurement agency may pick the F-15 in keeping with just the worth rather then performance and other features. The sort of selection can emerge as a regular waste of cash,” said Yang Uk, a senior research fellow on the Korea Defense and Security Forum (KDSF).
The Air Force is raring to buy the F-35 to balance military power around the Asia-Pacific region considering its stealth capability. Currently, China is developing stealth fighters and Japan plans to amass a complete of 42 F-35s.
In order to get closer the F-35 stealth jet, the Chicago-based Boeing “conceptually” patched up its F-15 Strike Eagle with a couple of features for low-observable capability. What it has proposed are conformal weapons bays (CWB), radar-absorbent material and canted vertical tails ― although they still cannot stop critics from casting doubt at the functionality of those. In step with DAPA, the introduction of dual vertical tails set outward at 15 degrees requires direct Korean investment.
“The Silent Eagle is so named as a result of its stealth function, but without tilting the vertical tails, the aircraft will be unable to attenuate its radar cross section (RCS) from the side,” Shin said.
“The F-15 is an aircraft whose RCS is high together with the Sukhoi Su-27. The CWB will be unable to accomplish in addition to touted, either.”
Yang said that introduction of RCS-linked features hurt the F-15K Slam Eagle’s unique selling point ― its large and numerous weapons payload and range. The Slam Eagle is a sophisticated derivative of the Strike Eagle.
“The CWB prevents the Silent Eagle from loading various weapons,” said Yang.
He added that a stealth capability need to be designed into an airframe from the very beginning.
“With the uncertain features at the line, why will we need to buy the Silent Eagle for 8.3 trillion won,” Yang said.
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