US State Department approves South Korea to buy 25 more F-35A jets

MELBOURNE, Australia — The U.S. State Department has approved a $5.06 billion sale of 25 F-35A fighter jets for South Korea.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Wednesday announced the possible deal, which could change in quantity and contract value during the negotiations process.

The potential sale, which now goes to Congress for consideration, would also include 26 Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 engines for the aircraft, an upgrade to the Block 4 standard, as well as cryptographic appliques and electronic warfare support.

If approved, the sale will bring South Korea’s fleet to 65 F-35A conventional-takeoff-and-landing aircraft . The country’s Air Force is currently in the process of taking delivery of 40 F-35As it previously ordered to equip its 17th Fighter Wing at Cheongju.

South Korea is using its F-35As to replace it fleet of McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II fighter jets. It had previously considered buying the F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant to equip its planned aircraft carrier.

However, the Defense Ministry said earlier this year it is looking at the feasibility of building a 50,000-ton aircraft carrier, which is considerably larger than originally planned. Such a ship would enable the South Koreans to operate catapult-launched carrier aircraft instead of the F-35B. This would likely be a naval version of the locally designed Korea Aerospace Industries KF-21 Boramae fighter. South Korea’s defense acquisition agency concluded in January that developing a carrierborne KF-21 was feasible within a 10-year time frame.

South Korea is technically still at war with its nuclear-armed neighbor North Korea, as the two countries have not signed a formal peace treaty following the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War.

Mike Yeo is the Asia correspondent for Defense News.

澳大利亚墨尔本——美国国务院已批准向韩国出售价值 50.6 亿美元的 25 架 F-35A 战斗机。

美国国防安全合作局周三宣布了这项可能达成的交易，但交易的数量和合同金额可能会在谈判过程中发生变化。

这项潜在的军售案目前已提交国会审议，其中还将包括为该飞机提供 26 台普惠 F135-PW-100 发动机，升级到 Block 4 标准，以及密码附加装置和电子战支持。

如果获得批准，这笔军售将使韩国的F-35A常规起降战斗机机队规模达到65架。韩国空军目前正在接收此前订购的40架F-35A战斗机，这些战机将装备其驻扎在清州的第17战斗机联队。

韩国正用F-35A战斗机替换其现有的麦克唐纳·道格拉斯F-4E“鬼怪II”战斗机机队。此前，韩国曾考虑购买F-35B短距起飞/垂直降落型战斗机，以装备其计划建造的航空母舰。

然而，韩国国防部今年早些时候表示，正在研究建造一艘5万吨级航空母舰的可行性，这比原计划的规模要大得多。这样一艘航母将使韩国能够使用弹射起飞的舰载机，而不是F-35B战斗机。这很可能是韩国航空航天工业公司（KAI）自主研发的KF-21“宝拉美”战斗机的舰载版本。韩国国防采办局在今年1月得出结论，在10年内开发舰载型KF-21战斗机是可行的。

从技术上讲，韩国仍与其拥有核武器的邻国朝鲜处于战争状态，因为两国在 1953 年结束朝鲜战争的停战协定签署后，尚未签署正式的和平条约。

Mike Yeo 是《防务新闻》的亚洲通讯员。