Friday, May 24th, 2013
SEOUL, KOREA - The European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company N.V. (EADS) offered to invest US$2 billion in Korea's fighter jet development project. An EADS official said on May 23, "If we are selected as a supplier in the fighter jet procurement project, we are willing to invest 2 trillion won in a software center and a maintenance repair operations (MRO) center in Korea."
With its Eurofighter Tranche 3 EADS is currently competing with Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth jet and Boeing's F-15 Silent Eagle for the 8.3-trillion-won contract to replace the Korean Air Force's aging fleet of F-4s and F-5s.
To this, a Defense Acquisition Program Administration official responded cautiously, "EADS's investment plan is contingent upon its winning of the new fighter jet project. The government has not decided whether to go ahead with the new fighter jet development project."
