Boeing emerged as the Lowest Bidder (L1) and the only one below the price limit set by the country’s arms procurement agency in response to the $7.4 billion tender floated by South Korea to supply 60 fighter aircraft for which the US aerospace major has a good chance of winning the contract. Boeing is fielding the latest variant of its F-15 fighter, dubbed the F-15 Silent Eagle against the Eurofighter Typhoon and Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightening II Stealth Joint Strike Fighter jet. One industry source said that the capabilities of the new fighters, rather than cost, would be a key factor in the final decision by the government of Korea.
The decision on one of the world’s most closely watched military tenders will be made by a committee chaired by South Korea’s Defence Minister after Defence Acquisition Programme Administration (DAPA) submits its final evaluation of the three fighters in the near future. DAPA will score the bids on a fixed set of criteria, although Korean law prevents the government from signing a contract that exceeds the allotted budget.
