South Korea is stepping up efforts to strengthen its air defense with its final approval this week of a deal to purchase 40 F-35 radar-evading warplanes for deployment from 2018 through 2021 at a cost of 7.3 trillion won ($7 billion).
The approval came amid growing concerns that the South Korean Air Force could face a shortage of warplanes in the coming years, with a project to develop indigenous warplanes a decade behind schedule. Regional powers’ push to acquire their own stealth fighters also affected Seoul’s decision to choose Lockheed Martin’s F-35.
Before the final decision, there was an intense dispute about whether South Korea really needed stealth fighters to deal with the threats posed by North Korea, which is struggling with its outmoded military hardware and underfed soldiers.
High procurement costs and the development delays caused by the discovery of defects in the F-35 while it was still under development had added to the skepticism about Seoul’s purchase of the fifth-generation fighter jets.
But the final decision suggests that long-term strategic calculations prevailed.
Given that the new fighters will be used for the next three to four decades, the South needs to procure the most advanced fighter platform, and the purchase of the F-35 could send a strong message to the North that the South could quickly secure air superiority in case of North Korean aggression, analysts said.
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