South Korea to develop electronic warfare aircraft, buy helicopters

MELBOURNE, Australia — South Korea’s defense procurement agency has approved two major acquisition programs, paving the way for the country to develop a new electronic warfare aircraft and buy new heavy-lift helicopters.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced Thursday its approval of a $1.41 billion program to develop a new airborne electronic warfare platform. The project is expected to run from 2024 to 2032, and the new aircraft will seek to improve joint operational capabilities and the survivability of the country’s air assets by jamming and disrupting adversarial air defenses as well as command and communications systems.

This latest acquisition will form part of South Korea’s future electronic warfare response system, and it represents the government’s latest effort to acquire or develop a range of aircraft for special missions.

DAPA also greenlighted the $2.84 billion acquisition of “heavy helicopters” to replace older helicopters currently used by South Korea’s Army and Air Force for special operations as well as search and rescue missions.

The agency did not identify the platform selected for either requirement, although the use of the term “heavy helicopters” hints at the Boeing-made CH-47F Chinook . South Korea already operates an older version of the Chinook, with both the Army and Air Force flying the type.

The Army currently operates 26 CH-47D and six CH-47DLR heavy-lift helicopters, while the Air Force has 11 HH-47Ds for transport and combat search and rescue roles.

DAPA had approved a smaller acquisition of CH-47Fs in March, clearing $1.14 billion to buy helicopters for the Army. Neither announcement disclosed the number of helicopters it will acquire, although the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency cleared a South Korean request for 18 CH-47Fs in December 2022 that was estimated to be worth $1.5 billion.

Another South Korean effort to acquire or develop aircraft for special missions includes a previous contract award to Korea Aerospace Industries to convert four Dassault Falcon 2000LXS business jets into Baekdu surveillance platforms.

The new platforms will replace four older Hawker 800XP (RC-800SIG) intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft operated by the Air Force and acquired under the Peace Pioneer program in the late 1990s. The new jets are expected to enter service in 2026.

South Korea has an ongoing need for ISR capabilities, chiefly to monitor neighboring North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs .

The South Korean Air Force already has the Boeing-made E-7A Peace Eye airborne early warning and control aircraft; the Northrop Grumman-made RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drone; and the Peace Krypton reconnaissance aircraft.

Mike Yeo is the Asia correspondent for Defense News.

澳大利亚墨尔本——韩国国防采购局已批准两项重大采购计划，为该国开发新型电子战飞机和购买新型重型运输直升机铺平了道路。

美国国防采办计划管理局周四宣布批准一项价值14.1亿美元的项目，用于开发一种新型机载电子战平台。该项目预计将从2024年持续到2032年，新型飞机将通过干扰和破坏敌方防空系统以及指挥和通信系统，来提升联合作战能力和美国空中力量的生存能力。

此次最新采购将成为韩国未来电子战响应系统的一部分，也代表了韩国政府为获取或开发一系列用于特殊任务的飞机而做出的最新努力。

DAPA 还批准了价值 28.4 亿美元的“重型直升机”采购计划，以取代韩国陆军和空军目前用于特种作战以及搜救任务的旧式直升机。

该机构并未透露为满足这两项需求而选定的平台，但“重型直升机”一词的使用暗示了波音公司制造的CH-47F“支奴干”直升机。韩国陆军和空军均已装备了老款的“支奴干”直升机。

目前，陆军拥有 26 架 CH-47D 和 6 架 CH-47DLR 重型运输直升机，而空军拥有 11 架 HH-47D，用于运输和战斗搜救任务。

美国国防采办计划管理局（DAPA）3月份批准了一项规模较小的CH-47F直升机采购计划，拨款11.4亿美元用于陆军购置直升机。这两项公告均未披露最终采购的直升机数量，尽管美国国防安全合作局（DSCA）在2022年12月批准了韩国提出的购买18架CH-47F直升机的请求，该请求预计价值15亿美元。

韩国为获取或开发用于特殊任务的飞机所做的另一项努力包括之前授予韩国航空航天工业公司的一份合同，将四架达索猎鹰 2000LXS 公务机改装成白头山监视平台。

这些新平台将取代空军现役的四架老旧的霍克800XP（RC-800SIG）情报、监视和侦察飞机，这些飞机是上世纪90年代末根据“和平先锋”计划采购的。新战机预计将于2026年投入使用。

韩国一直需要情报、监视和侦察（ISR）能力，主要是为了监视邻国朝鲜的核武器和弹道导弹计划。

韩国空军已经拥有波音公司制造的E-7A“和平之眼”空中预警和控制飞机；诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司制造的RQ-4“全球鹰”监视无人机；以及“和平氪星”侦察机。

Mike Yeo 是《防务新闻》的亚洲通讯员。