South Korea is Considering Large Deck, CATOBAR Aircraft Carriers

A senior South Korean lawmaker has said the country should reconsider proposals for acquiring either light or medium aircraft carriers with Catapult Assisted Take-Off Barrier Arrested Recovery, or CATOBAR, configurations to respond to growing regional security threats. These were alternatives to South Korea's reported decision to purchase a number of large amphibious assault ships capable of supporting fixed-wing short takeoff and vertical landing combat jets, namely the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter. This call for reassessing that choice comes as the South Korean Ministry of Defense may be leaning toward acquiring 20 more conventional F-35A models rather than B variants, further deferring plans to develop a fixed-wing naval aviation capability.

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Republic of Korea Marine Corps Wants More Aircraft Carrying Ships

The Marine Corps is considering introducing a large transport ship capable of carrying warplanes, and mobilizing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to enhance its amphibious operations and surveillance capabilities, its chief said Wednesday.

During his keynote speech at a security seminar, Lt. Gen. Jun Jin-goo also expressed his desire to capitalize on robotics and other cutting-edge technologies to enhance the marines' maritime power projection capabilities.

"We are considering building the LPX (large platform experimental)-type ship capable of carrying aircraft in close cooperation with the Navy," Jun said.

He did not specify what aircraft will be carried by the envisioned ship. But observers say that the commander might have in mind the F-35B, a short takeoff and vertical landing variant of the U.S.-made radar-evading fighter.

The Marine Corps appears to want to secure its own LPX ship apart from the 14,000-ton Dokdo amphibious landing ship and the Marado warship, which are currently in operation and under construction, respectively.

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South Korea Will NOT ban Cryptocurrencies After all?

South Korea has been flirting with banning cryptocurrency trading for some time now. However, now it appears the country is backtracking. Bloomberg reports that South Korea's regulators have indicated that they will continue to support "normal" trading of the cryptocurrency.

In late 2017, South Korea, which is the third largest market for cryptocurrency, began cracking down on Bitcoin traders. It banned initial coin offerings and stopped allowing anonymous cryptocurrency accounts. At the beginning of this year, South Korean officials announced an outright ban on cryptocurrency trading was in the works. Many cryptocurrencies were priced higher on South Korea's exchanges than in the rest of the world, and officials in the country thought of it as gambling. There was also the fear that cryptocurrency trading could lead to tax evasion.

Apparently, South Korean regulators have worked out their concerns, because Choe Heungsik, the governor of South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service, has said that his organization is trying to normalize cryptocurrency trading. This is a big shift in rhetoric against digital currencies.

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South Korea has Banned Initial Coin Offerings

South Korea’s financial regulator on Friday said it will ban raising money through all forms of virtual currencies, a move that follows similar restrictions in China on initial coin offerings.

The Financial Services Commission said all kinds of initial coin offerings (ICO) will be banned as trading of virtual currencies needs to be tightly controlled and monitored.

“Raising funds through ICOs seem to be on the rise globally, and our assessment is that ICOs are increasing in South Korea as well,” the regulator said in a statement after a meeting with the finance ministry, the Bank of Korea and the National Tax Service.

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South Korea Launches First FFX-II Guided Missile Frigate

South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) has launched the country's first FFX-II platform, the company confirmed with IHS Jane's on 7 June.

The ship, which has been named Daegu with pennant number 818, was launched on 2 June at the company's shipyard in Okpo. The FFX-II platform is a larger variant of the Incheon (FFX-I)-class ships that are in service with the Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN).

According to specifications provided by DSME, the platform features an overall length of 122 m and an overall beam of 14 m. The ship has a standard displacement of 2,800 tonnes and a full load displacement of 3,600 tonnes. Powered by one Rolls-Royce MT30 turbine engine and four diesel generators in a combined diesel-electric or gas configuration, the ship can attain a maximum speed of 30 kt, the company said.

The FFX-II platform is armed with one 127 mm Mk 45 Mod 4 naval gun and one aft-facing, six-barrelled, 20 mm Raytheon Phalanx close-in weapon system. The ship has also been equipped with a 16-cell Korean vertical launching system for defence against aerial threats and six 324 mm torpedo tubes for submarine prosecution.

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South Korea has Begun Modifying the VLS on its Aegis Destroyers

South Korean Navy's Aegis destroyers will get an upgraded missile launch system that will allow them to intercept North Korean ballistic missiles, a government source said Sunday.

The Navy is moving to install new vertical missile launch systems on its three King Sejong the Great class ships that will allow them to launch the longer range SM-3 and SM-6 ship-to-air missiles, said the military source who declined to be identified.

At present, the ships are only able to fire off the SM-2 missiles with a range of 150 kilometers, which is insufficient to intercept ballistic missiles. The SM-3 can fly up to 500 kilometers, while the SM-6 has a range of 400 km. The SM-3, in particular, has the ability to attack targets at a higher altitude than the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and can reach speeds of Mach 7.8.

"Once the vertical launch systems are installed, the Navy will have the infrastructure to utilize the longer-range systems," he said

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South Korea Developing its own Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles

The South Korean Military is developing submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), a high-ranking military official said.

“On the 3,000-ton Jangbogo-III submarine, which is currently under production, we are installing a vertical launching pad,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. SLBMs are fired undersea and are therefore difficult to detect by radar. He added, “The installation of a vertical launching pad indicates that the SLBM is already under development.” The official also went on to say that the SLBM is being developed under the aegis of the Agency of Defense Development and is expected to be completed by 2020.

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Hyundai Wins Contract for Next South Korean Aegis Destroyers

South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has awarded a contract to design a second batch of three Sejong Daewang (KDX-3)-class guided-missile destroyers to Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the company confirmed to IHS Jane's on 26 May.

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Stealth Saga #24

TFX:

Turkish Aerospace Industries expects the TFX contract to be signed within the first half of 2016.

KF-X:

The program has been officially kicked off and is planning on 2/3s local content.

PAK-FA:

The PAK-FA performed at the Bahrain air show and the final prototype is being assembled.   Note: prototype, not first production example.

PAK-DA:

The Russians are claiming they will be building the first prototype of the PAK-DA stealth bomber before 2021.  However, I'd caution that the Russians have an economy that is melting down and they have already significantly postponed the purchase of the PAK-FA, the MiG-31 replacement and several other aerospace projects.  The PAK-DA may only get built, if ever, in the far future, not in 5 years.  The link is to a Russian website, but the text is in spanish.  (wuh?)  

LRS-B/B-3:

Rumor has it the image here is not far off for what the two LRS-B prototypes actually looked like.

The second rumor is the Northrop prototype nearly crashed during testing.

F-22:

A little more about the F-22s now deployed to Japan.

F-35:

The F-35 has fired the AIM-9X Sidewinder for the first time.

Denmark is facing a significant budget issue over replacing its F-16s: the F-35 is one of the contenders.

The top Pentagon weapons tester is concerned about the F-35 avionics software.

Stealth Saga #20

J-20:

A new J-20 has emerged with the tail number '2101' and rumor has it this is the first production aircraft.  RUmors also claim the IOC for the J-20 will be 2018.  Let's express a few doubts about that.

ATD-X:

The Japanese stealth fighter prototype will fly this February (news in Japanese).  The ATD-X will lead into the Japanese's F-3 5th Generation Fighter Program with a prototype of the F-3 flying in 2024 and production to begin in 2027.

KF-X:

DAPA will be signing the KF-X contract with KAI.

PAK-FA:

More information has come out, or at least the Russian version, of the cheaper offer to India for the PAK-FA.

With the cheaper off, it seems the negotiations between Russia and India have accelerated.

Stealth Saga #17

META:

Who will win Asia's fifth generation fighter race?


UCAVs:

South Korea is developing a UCAV, that in the concepts looks a lot like the German Barracuda demonstrator.

The US Navy CNO has stated the UCLASS needs to be accelerated.

The British Taranis has completed a third round of test flights, but it is unclear if it will be tested further.

TF-X:

Rolls Royce has offered its EJ-200 engines for the Turkish TF-X program. 

KF-X:

South Korea's KF-X may not be a F-35 peer like South Korea originally wanted.

The US government has approved 21 technologies from the F-35 to be transferred to South Korea for the KF-X.

Sukhoi PAK-FA/T-50:

Supposedly the flight tests for the PAK-FA are virtually complete.  The procurement seems to be incredibly scaled back: only one squadron, the report states, is going to be bought.  Su-35s will be purchased instead.

Will India actually buy all 154 PAK-FA they originally were signing up for?

J-20: 

Supposedly, the Chinese military, despite significant changes to the latest prototype of the J-20 and the Su-35, is stating the flight testing for the J-20 is nearly complete.

F-35:

Denmark has, again, postponed the start of the procurement of its replacement fighter due to budget issues.  The F-35 is competing for the procurement.

South Korea has added diplomats to its negotiating team for its F-35 contract. 

Apparently, the F-35 office canceled a realistic cyber security test and now they are getting huge amounts of flak for the decision.

Lockheed will get all 45 of the F-35s planned for production this year done by December 31st.  43 are already done.

Northrop has delivered the center fuselage of the first Japanese F-35 to Lockheed.

Pakistan getting the F-35 would be India's worst nightmare, but its highly unlikely to happen any time soon.

The F-35A will begin flying 'Heritage Flights' at airshows.  

Stealth Saga #15

J-20:

A new prototype, 2017, of the J-20 stealth fighter has taken flight.  

KF-X:

Indonesia and South Korea worked out more details on how they will work together on the KF-X project.

There is a further delay for the transfer of technologies from the US to South Korea for the KF-X program.

UCLASS:

The Navy has set up an unmanned vehicle office to manage the UAVs, UCAVs, USVs and UUVs.  The stalled UCLASS has been assigned to this office.

Long Range Strike Bomber: 

An opinion states the US Air Force made the right decision for the LRS-B contract award.

US Air Force is investigating the data breach in a Forbes article describing the costs for development.

F-35 Lightning II:

Canada's participation in the F-35 is now completely up in the air.

The Brits have announced they will be increasing their total buy of F-35s.

Denmark is likely to confirm an order for 30 F-35s.

Belgium is likely to release its RFP for its F-16 replacement soon and the F-35 is a contender.

The F-35 will be entered into the Canadian recompete for the replacement of the Canadian CF-18s.

The US Marines F-35B squadron, VMFA-121, has been declared ready for combat deployment.

Lockheed Negotiating With South Korea Over List of 21 Technologies to be Transferred for KF-X Stealth Fighter

Lockheed Martin officials will visit Korea this week to discuss the transfer of technologies related to the country's KF-X project, the development of an indigenous fighter.

"
Lockheed Martin officials will visit the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) this week," said spokesman Col. Kim Si-cheol, Tuesday. "Working-level officials of the company and DAPA are checking on the progress of the U.S. government's inspection into the transfer of 21 technologies to Korea."

Kim, however, showed a subtle change from his existing position that the transfer of the 21 technologies, stipulated in an offset deal, including a flight control system, was a done deal.

He said it is a contractual obligation for Lockheed Martin to transfer technologies worth $1.41 billion, noting that although the company is changing the types to be handed over to Korea from the original list, it should be valued at the agreed amount.

The remark was construed to mean the list of technologies to be transferred could be changed after the U.S. government inspection.

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Seoul is Planning Vertical Farms

Seoul City Hall is planning to introduce “vertical farms.”

The farms would be three stories high, with vegetables and crops grown on the second and third floors, while the first floor would serve as a classroom for teaching agriculture, city officials said Tuesday.

The farms will be computer controlled to provide the right light, temperature and humidity, and check carbon dioxide levels.

The western district of Yangcheon will be home to the first farms.

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Stealth Saga #11

The South Koreans have been working on 3 of the 4 technologies the US banned export of already.  The AESA radar is the only technology the Koreans have not yet developed on their own.  The South Koreans have been trying to figure out how to acquire the AESA radar.  Saab and several others are already offering their solutions.

The Russians may not sell the Indians the S-400 SAM missiles unless India 'clarifies' its intentions with the T-50/PAK-FA derivative they had been working on with Russia.  India has been developing very cold feet recently over the project, worried about performance, quality control and the lack of real cooperative development with the Russians despit paying for a very large portion of the bill.  This could really backfire for the Russians.

The Canadian projected withdrawal the F-35 is going to shake up the fighter market.  Turkey is hoping to add the SOM-J cruise missile to the F-35 in software version 4.2

Bloomberg states the Long Range Strike Bomber contract will be announced tomorrow at 4 pm eastern time (after the markets close).  I'm surprised they are not waiting until friday.  Experts are split on who has won the contract.  What questions SHOULD be asked about the B-3/LRS-B and its contract?  Everyone in the aerospace industry is looking for clues as to which team won.

South Korean Secretary for Foreign Affairs Forced to Resign Over KF-X Stealth Fighter Debacle

President Park Geun-hye replaced senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs Ju Chul-ki, Monday, amid mounting calls for her top security aides to take responsibility for failing to obtain four key technologies related to F-35 stealth fighters from the United States.

Ju was replaced with Kim Kyou-hyon, the deputy chief of the National Security Office (NSO), according to Cheong Wa Dae.

The reshuffle has been construed as Park censuring the secretary over the failure to receive the core technologies from the U.S., which dealt a serious setback to the nation's 8.5 trillion won KF-X project to develop indigenous fighter jets by 2025.

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An Analysis of South Korea's Problematic KF-X Program

Four years ago, at the 2011 instalment of the Seoul Air Show, South Korean officials predicted that 2013 would see the start of development for the country’s long-planned indigenous KFX fighter aircraft. A first flight was likely in 2015, and full scale production in 2021. Seoul would have a 60% share in the project, while prospective partners Indonesia and Turkey would each have 20%. They would provide funds and a degree of participation, but there was no question that Seoul would sit in the cockpit.

The aircraft envisaged was ambitious, far more advanced than any aircraft developed in South Korea. It would vault South Korea from a second tier player in the global aerospace supply chain to a leading systems integrator. Seoul’s Defense Acquisition Programme Administration (DAPA) gave a long list of requirements: fly-by-wire flight controls, hands-on-throttle-and-stick pilot controls, a helmet-mounted display and a night vision imaging system. Low-observable technologies would reduce the jet’s radar cross section (RCS). KFX would have an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and an infrared search and track (IRST) sensor.

As is all too common in the world of fighter development, things have not gone to plan. Turkey ended up not joining KFX, deciding instead to build its own indigenous fighter, the TFX. By the 2013 Seoul Air Show, officials were still in talks with various suppliers, but no prototype was on the drawing board. Indeed, it was still some way from deciding whether Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the country’s leading airframer, or KAL-ASD, a unit of Korean Air, would develop KFX.

Perhaps the single biggest element in the delays was Seoul’s torturous F-X III fighter competition, the technology transfer offsets of which are earmarked for KFX work. Contenders for the bitterly-fought F-X III deal included the Lockheed Martin F-35, Boeing’s proposed F-15 Silent Eagle, and the Eurofighter Typhoon. Eurofighter was always deemed an outsider for the competition, but in a nod to KFX, it apparently offered an extremely lucrative technology transfer package. In 2013, after last minute scare from the F-15SE, the F-35 emerged as the winner of F-X III, although Seoul cut the airframe requirement from 60 to 40 examples, citing budgetary issues.

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Korean KF-X Stealth Fighter Scandals Worsens, NSO Head Being Investigated for F-35 Purchase

National Security Office (NSO) chief Kim Kwan-jin may face an investigation over his role in the controversial decision to buy F-35 stealth fighters from Lockheed Martin.

Kim headed a panel that selected F-35s over Boeing's F15-SEs as a defense minister in March last year.

The office of the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs began its probe last week amid growing allegations that the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) lied about the terms of the contract in order to help Lockheed win the bid.

The agency admitted that it failed to receive four core F-35-related technologies from Lockheed, and this is expected to cause a setback for the nation's 8.5 trillion won KF-X project to develop indigenous fighter jets by 2025.

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Stealth Saga #7: Slips, Blunders and Anticipation

The PAK-FA/T-50 will be tested in wargames next year.

The PAK-FA has been officially delayed at least until 2017: supposedly, it will be a total of 12 fighters.  If it does, development slips are quite common.

The PAK-FA will be equipped with a new Mach 3.5 anti radiation missile from the get-go.  This will help it in an anti AWACS and SEAD role as it will be possible to carry it internally.

More information on the public 'leak' of the Chinese FC-31/J-31 stealth fighter.

How China is catching up to the US with its stealth technology.

South Korea's KF-X stealth fighter project is endangered because they have failed to secure four critical technologies.  There was a hint the project would be delayed whether or not they got the tech transfers though.

The KF-X program gets blasted by the press many times.

Turkey's selection of the engine for its F-X stealth fighter project is critical.

Boeing in the 1960s looked into stealth technology with its semi successful model 'Quiet Bird.'

The Long Range Strike Bomber contract is still a toss up.

Lessons from the LRS-B program are going to be applied to the Long Range Strike Weapon and T-X.

The US Air Force is considering an F-22 base in Europe.

General Carlisle considers ending F-22 production at 195 a complete mistake, wants to restart production, but realizes it is unlikely given the budget realities.  Foxtrot Alpha reiterates the fact shutting down F-22 production was a mistake.

Canada may not be able to afford the F-35 due to the falling Canadian dollar.  The Liberal Party in Canada has stated it will not buy the F-35 if it wins the election.

The first F-35 for Norway has been rolled out

General Bogdan is more than confident the F-35 will be more than a match for any aircraft currently under development, inclusive of the J-20, PAK-FA and J-31.

The F-35C shipboard testing will include a  full internal weapons load and the new helmet.

Foreign 4th/5th Generation Fighter Updates From India, Japan and Turkey

First India's Rafale Procurement Costs, Headaches and Future:

India's criticism of a high price tag on the Dassault Rafale has sharpened public focus on French negotiations to extend sale of the twin-jet fighter beyond a planned 36 units for the Indian Air Force.

Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar fueled speculation about the final size of the Rafale order May 31 when he said the French fighters were "way too expensive" and there was no longer a plan to buy a total of 126 Rafales.

But Dassault Aviation Chairman Eric Trappier said the 126-jet deal "is under discussion," although he admitted progress is slow.

"The Indian Air Force needs many more than 36 planes," Trappier told Defense News.

"There is an immediate need for 36. The negotiations for 126 are rather slow.

"They have an urgent operational requirement which does not allow time needed to set up the license, so they asked for 36 quickly," said the Dassault boss.

India has been negotiating to buy 126 Rafales under the Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) program after beating the Eurofighter Typhoon to selection in 2012.

The future of that deal was clouded after the unexpected announcement by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to Paris April 10 that India wanted 36 jets straight off the Dassault production line.

Modi cited "critical operational necessity" to buy the Rafales in fly-away condition.

Trappier said he hopes that particular deal will be signed by the end of the year.

The Indian defense minister's remark on the high price was understandable, a French defense specialist said.

Beyond the fly-away unit price, there is the "real price" that includes support and equipment such as a test bench, maintenance tools, manuals and training simulators. The technical support runs in hundreds of millions of euros and is a separate cost from the supply of spares and the aircraft.

Negotiations for the 36 units may have unveiled the full potential cost, after Modi's announcement of the planned purchase.

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Japan's Decision to buy the F-35 means they still need to figure out what to do about their F-15 and F-2 4th Generation fighters:

The purchase of the F-35 should give the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) next-generation intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance performance, but upgrades to Japan's F-2 and F-15 fleets can continue for only so long, and replacements will be needed in the mid-to-late 2020s, analysts say.

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(I remember when the F-2 was going to be a new uber fighter superior to everything American...based on the article, its anything but!)

Turkey is seeking a foreign partner, much like the South Koreans did, for their 5th gen indigenous fighter program:

In one of the most critical stages shaping its indigenous fighter jet program, the Turkish government plans to select a foreign partner by 2016, officials said.

The foreign partner would be expected to support the approximately four-year planned designing phase of the program dubbed F-X, the officials said.

One senior procurement official said the contract involving the foreign partner would be around US $1 billion.

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I'd guess the Koreans might be a good choice.  Indirectly, it'd bring in the Americans and help with the costs because the South Koreans and Indonesians are jointly paying for Korea's new 5th gen indigenous fighter.  However, the Turks want a Turkish designed fighter, sooo...it might not be that helpful after all.