F-15K Performance Upgrade Cost... 77 Billion Won Per Unit

"Rising Material and Labor Costs... Total Project Cost 3.46 Trillion Won"
Domestic R&D for Submarine Rescue Ship, Successor to Ganghwado-class

The cost of upgrading the performance of the Air Force's main fighter jet F-15K, deployed since 2005, has increased by more than 1 trillion won compared to the initial estimate. In December 2022, at the 148th Defense Acquisition Program Promotion Committee (DAPPC), the basic strategy plan for the F-15K performance upgrade project was approved with a total project cost of 3.46 trillion won.

On the 1st, to commemorate Armed Forces Day, an F15K fighter jet is taking off to carry out its mission at the 71st Armed Forces Day event held at Daegu Air Base (11th Fighter Wing). Photo by Daegu Joint Press Corps

On the 16th, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) held the 165th DAPPC and reviewed and approved four agenda items, including the decision on the F-15K performance upgrade model. The project period is from this year until 2037, with a total budget of approximately 4.56 trillion won. The unit cost for upgrading the performance of one F-15K, currently operating 59 units, exceeds 77 billion won.

The F-15K performance upgrade project aims to enhance the mission capability and survivability of the F-15K fighter jets operated by the Air Force by upgrading key avionics equipment. Through this project, the current mechanical radar will be replaced with an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, increasing information processing speed by 1,000 times, expanding the memory capacity of the mission computer, and converting the currently semi-automatic electronic warfare equipment to fully automatic.

DAPA explained that the cost increase is due to "the global rise in material and labor costs in the aircraft manufacturing sector, along with the continuous reduction of military industry manufacturers leading to a restructuring of the supply chain."

At the same meeting, the basic system development plan for the Short-Range Air-to-Air Guided Missile-II project, which aims to domestically develop short-range air-to-air missiles to be equipped on the KF-21, was approved. The project period is from next year to 2035, with a total investment of 661.5 billion won. DAPA expects that this project will secure short-range air-to-air missile technology and enhance the ability to respond to enemy threats. Currently, the KF-21 can be equipped with the German-made IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missile. Once the domestic missile is developed, it will not require Germany's export approval, enabling future package exports of the KF-21.

The basic system development plan for the Son Won-il-class (KSS-II) submarine performance upgrade project was also approved. Based on domestic technology secured from the Dosan Ahn Changho-class (KSS-III) project, this project upgrades four types of equipment on the Son Won-il-class, including combat systems, towed array sonar, mine avoidance sonar, and buoyant antenna. The project will run from next year to 2036 with a budget of 807.6 billion won.

The Submarine Rescue Ship (ASR)-II Batch-II project is a domestic research and development initiative to build a vessel to replace the currently operating ASR-I Cheonghaejin, whose service life cycle is ending. It is also the successor to the Ganghwado (ASR-II), which was commissioned last month. According to the approved basic project strategy and construction plan, the newly built vessel will be equipped with electro-optical equipment and a rescue operation system to enhance search and rescue command capabilities. The project will be carried out from 2026 to 2031 with a total budget of 636.4 billion won.