Posted on 11/04/2013 10:27:33 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
Nov 4 (Reuters) - A retired top U.S. Air Force general on Monday said South Korea will need Boeing Co F-15 fighter jets in the short term since Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 will not be able to carry a full load of weapons until after South Korea needs to replace its aging F-4 and F-5 fighters.
Ron Fogleman, who works as a consultant to Boeing and also heads the board of Alliant Techsystems Inc, a big F-35 supplier, said South Korea would eventually need some F-35s, with their greater "stealth" or ability to evade enemy radar.
But Boeing's F-15 offered South Korea the ability to carry more weapons than the F-35 when it starts to retire its current F-4 and F-5 fighters in 2016 and 2017, given delays in the development of the F-35 software.
"You can buy a stealthy airplane, but if it doesn't have a lot of combat capability you kind of have a paper tiger," Fogleman told reporters.
South Korea is now reexamining its requirements for a $7.2 billion fighter competition, after an acquisition task force last month rejected a bid to buy the Boeing F-15 because the country needed more stealth capability.
Seoul is expected to reaffirm in coming weeks that it needs radar-evading capabilities like those offered by the F-35, according to sources familiar with the process.
However, Boeing and its supporters are pressing for a split buy of both F-15s and F-35s.
Fogleman, Air Force chief of staff from 1994 to 1997 and who headed the combined U.S.-Korean air forces from 1990 to 1992, said the F-35 would not be able to carry its full range of weapons until the 2020s after Lockheed completes work on the final 3F software being developed for the plane.
Lockheed did not immediately comment on t
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
So? Start whittling that bamboo and make em.
Sheesh .... You stole enough of our technology to become prosperous.
Can’t you do anything on your own?
Kahm Sa Nee Dah ....
excuse me the 2020s? to carry all its weapons? wtf !?!
We have almost 50 F-117 stealth fighters mothballed in hangers in Nevada.
Fogleman seems to be simply a lobbyist looking to get rich. I couldn’t care less if he were USAF and used-to-be commander of this and that.
It’s time for the Korean people to take care of themselves.
Actually this was nicely answered in one of the comments to the Reuters story when Mars_HQ wrote:
...you apparently have missed the fact that RoK has actually invested substantial military resources in Army, Naval and Air Force capabilities. They currently have a credible Tactical Air Force in terms of KF-16 and F-15K fleet and are presently deploying new classes of Tanks and IFV which are superior to even US Army armor. And yes, RoK has announced plans to possibly procure and build 2 light-Carriers which could be deployed between 2028 and 2036. As such, it is true that down the road, at a later time, RoK will likely procure next-gen manned and unmanned aircraft suitable for operations on light-carriers. But please note that (hypothetical F-35B) has nothing to do with revised requirements for the recently defunct F-X3 recap plan. Whereby, it would indeed be pragmatic and credible to contemplate an advanced F-15K++ stopgap measure, in addition to being complemented with more stealthy components such as an eventual proven block 3F/IV F-35A, or even an unmanned land-based UCAV option (eg, Avenger?). And also added to the interim mix could easily include next-gen stand-off systems as force-multiplying methods to increase deterrence. That said, one might be curious why Boeing did not earlier propose an alternative Advanced Super Hornet too, which could have been jointly modified and redesigned as a relatively economical KF-X concept (or at least to share the same engine)?
The Eurofighter has been operational for a decade, but is only now getting it's air to ground capabilities.
Korea isn’t asking for a handout, they want to pay cash for American finished products. For the US, this is certainly better than Korea developing their own aerospace technology that they can then compete with the US in foreign arms sales.
Sell them F5 freedom fighters. Simple and cheap and they can almost anything.
Fogleman is the finest man I know, and I have known him since 1995.
Read his history and you will discover he puts honor and this great nation above all else.
He does not shade his opinion — his integrity and honesty is unimpeachable.
He is a good man—a rare thing thee days.
bump
this is a huge spending item for S Korea, they don’t have money to burn like the US does (lol)
for the money and time invested this should not have to be this long. they could have planned to do this in parallel.
Ok, got it.
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