S. Korea approves plan to purchase new maritime helicopters from overseas

▲ This file photo, provided by the Navy on May 18, 2023, shows a Lynx maritime operations helicopter lifting off from the ROKS Sejong the Great destroyer sailing in waters off Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

military-helicopters

S. Korea approves plan to purchase new maritime helicopters from overseas

SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's defense authorities on Friday approved a plan to purchase new maritime operations helicopters from overseas to replace the Navy's aging fleet of choppers, the state arms procurement agency said.

The Defense Project Promotion Committee endorsed the basic strategic plan for the project worth 2.87 trillion won (US$2.23 billion) from 2025 to 2032 to replace the aging Lynx helicopters, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).

DAPA said the new helicopters are expected to enhance the Navy's anti-submarine and anti-surface ship capabilities and will serve to respond to threats posed by North Korea's submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

U.S. aerospace company Lockheed Martin's MH-60R and France-based NHIndustries' NH-90 are candidates for the project, according to a defense official.

The committee also endorsed a basic strategic plan for the development of a short-range air-to-air missile to be equipped on the country's homegrown KF-21 fighter jet under development.

The 591.9 billion-won project will run from 2025 through 2035 in an effort to develop an advanced homegrown missile for the KF-21, which is scheduled to begin being delivered to the Air Force in 2026.

It also approved a basic plan worth 740 billion won to purchase new command helicopters from overseas from 2025 through 2030 and an 890 billion-won basic development plan to improve the military's UH-60 and HH-60 special operations helicopters' capabilities from next year to 2030.

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