ADEX 2013: Boeing waits on reissued FX-III capability requirements before deciding on way forward

Boeing is waiting on the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) to re-issue its requirements of capabilities (RoC) document before deciding on how it is to proceed with the stalled FX-III fighter competition, a company official told IHS Jane's on 29 October.

Speaking at the Seoul International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition (ADEX) in South Korea, Howard Berry, FX-III campaign director said that the RoC will tell Boeing exactly what the RoKAF is looking for in terms of low observability (stealth), internal weapons carriage, programme status, and the like.

Once these factors are known, Berry said it will become clear if Korea is looking squarely at procuring the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), or if the RoKAF will restart the FX-III bidding process with the F-15 Advanced/Silent Eagle and Eurofighter Typhoon also.

"It is a pivotal moment as the government task force team [set up to look into the FX-III competition] is to report its findings in the coming one to three weeks," Berry said. "What is really interesting for us is the RoC, which will tell us what the RoKAF is looking for."

Having emerged as the frontrunner for FX-III following the apparent elimination of the F-35 and Typhoon on cost grounds, Boeing was bitterly disappointed to have the competition put on hiatus earlier this year after reported disquiet among senior RoKAF officials. In the wake of this, company officials briefed that a split buy of F-15s and F-35s might be a way forward for the RoKAF.

"We recognise that Korea has an interest in the F-35," Berry said, "but [that aircraft] has a way to go before it can be offered as a combat-ready platform. With the RoKAF [McDonnell Douglas] F-4s being retired there is a [capability] gap being created. We're saying it would be prudent to wait until about 2020 before inducting the F-35 into [RoKAF] service, and that the F-15 [Advanced/Silent Eagle] could fill the gap."

The F-15 Advanced Eagle and F-15SE Silent Eagle differ in so far as the former is slightly less focused on stealth. While Boeing displayed a model of the F-15 Advanced at the ADEX exhibition, Berry said that the company would be ready to offer either variant to the RoKAF depending on its RoC.

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