South Korea to buy 20 more F-35s

SEOUL — South Korea will buy 20 more F-35A fighter jets from the United States, as a part of its F-X project focused on acquiring foreign stealth fighter jets from 2023 to 2028.

The nation’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration’s promotion committee, led by Defense Minister Jong-sup Lee, on July 15 formally decided to buy 20 additional F-35As for 3.9 trillion Korean won (nearly $3 billion). South Korea plans to acquire them by 2028.

The Air Force will then have a total of 60 F-35As, as the military already operates 40 F-35A Block-Is.

The South Korean government and military plan to complete a feasibility test this year and establish a concrete acquisition plan early next year.

DAPA expects the airpower gap created by retiring outdated fighter jets of the ROK Air Force to be supplemented by the new F-35As, which are also meant to strengthen the country’s deterrence.

The plan to acquire additional F-35As already went through feasibility tests and demand verification process in 2018 and 2019, but the previous government preferred a light aircraft carrier and F-35Bs. When the new government took office this year, more serious concerns about the ROKAF’s outdated fighter jets and increasingly advanced North Korean nuclear weapons prompted Seoul to switch its defense acquisition priorities.

Daehan Lee was a South Korea correspondent for Defense News. He had previously worked at the U.S. and Belgian embassies in Seoul, for the People Power Party, and for election camps. He also served as a translator for the South Korean Navy. His interests include Asia-Pacific security, defense acquisition, South Korean politics and foreign policy.

首尔——韩国将从美国再购买 20 架 F-35A 战斗机，这是其 FX 项目的一部分，该项目旨在从 2023 年到 2028 年采购外国隐形战斗机。

7月15日，由国防部长李钟燮领导的韩国国防采办计划管理局推进委员会正式决定以3.9万亿韩元（约合30亿美元）的价格增购20架F-35A战斗机。韩国计划在2028年前完成采购。

届时，空军将总共拥有 60 架 F-35A，因为军方目前已经拥有 40 架 F-35A Block-I。

韩国政府和军方计划在今年完成可行性测试，并于明年初制定具体的采购计划。

DAPA 预计，随着韩国空军老旧战斗机的退役，新的 F-35A 将弥补由此造成的空中力量缺口，同时也将加强韩国的威慑力。

韩国政府在2018年和2019年就已完成了增购F-35A战斗机的可行性测试和需求核查程序，但当时的政府更倾向于采购轻型航空母舰和F-35B战斗机。今年新政府上台后，韩国空军老旧战斗机以及朝鲜日益先进的核武器引发了更为严重的担忧，促使首尔调整了国防采购的优先事项。

李大汉曾任《防务新闻》驻韩国记者。此前，他曾在美国和比利时驻首尔大使馆、国民力量党以及多个选举营地工作。他还曾担任韩国海军的翻译。他的研究领域包括亚太安全、国防采购、韩国政治和外交政策。