By Ju-min Park
SACHEON, South Korea, Aug 19 (Reuters) – South Korea,
renowned for making hi-tech consumer devices, cars and ships,
now has its sights on exporting fighter jets amid a projected
sharp increase in demand for military weapons in Asia over the
next decade.
South Korea’s first home-built light fighter, the FA-50,
will roll out on Tuesday from the Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd
(KAI) assembly plant in the southern city of
Sacheon.
KAI officials say that they aim to sell about 1,000 FA-50s
and T-50s overseas over the next three decades, and are eyeing
markets in Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and the Americas.
“Countries in Southeast Asia and South America are finding
FA-50s enormously attractive,” Park Jeong-soo, a senior official
from KAI’s external affairs department told reporters.
Global defence budgets are forecast to increase by 9.3
percent to $1.65 trillion by 2021, according to analysts IHS
Janes. Defence budgets in the Asia Pacific are forecast to
outstrip North America by 2021, up 35 percent from 2013 levels
to $501 billion, it added in its Balance of Trade report in
June.
That will pit South Korea’s fighters against U.S., European,
Chinese and Russian companies in an increasingly crowded – yet
still lucrative – market.
South Korea is also planning to develop a much larger KF-X
fighter with the help of U.S. defence contractors, although that
has been delayed by budgetary constraints.
The first FA-50 is part of an order for 20 fighters by South
Korea’s air force, which will use them to replace its ageing
Northrop F-5 fighters.
Negotiations are ongoing with the Philippines, with a local
online news outlet reporting that a $460 million deal with
Manila for 12 FA-50s could be completed this month.
Officials at the Sacheon headquarters of KAI declined to
comment due to the sensitivity of the matter.
KAI CEO Ha Sung-yong said while South Korea’s conventional
export markets such as cars and shipbuilding faced tough
competition, its aerospace industry should grow strongly.
“Now that has KAI established the groundwork with its own
technology, it is necessary to grow the industry … by
contributing to the national military’s force integration and
creating jobs and exports,” Ha said.
The FA-50 is based on the T-50 advanced jet trainer, which
is already in service in South Korea and was developed together
with U.S. defence contractor Lockheed Martin.
The T-50 can also be fitted with weapons under its wings and
used as a light attack aircraft. Indonesia was the first export
customer with a 2011 order for 16 T-50s, and Iraq is in
negotiations to buy 24.
KAI and Lockheed are gearing up for a lucrative U.S. Air
Force competition for at least 300 aircraft and maybe hundreds
more worth several billion dollars, a deal that one South Korean
officer called the “jackpot”.
