S. Korea to pay $7 bn for 40 F-35A fighter jets

[IDemo]

Source: Yahoo

South Korea is to pay 7.3 trillion won ($7 billion) for 40 F-35A fighter jets under the terms of a deal with Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday by the state arms procurer.

Seoul has been in talks with the US defence firm on terms of the deal since March after Seoul picked the F-35A as its next-generation fighter jet.

"We held negotiations from March to September on technology, price and trade-off conditions", a spokesman of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said.

"The purchase price per unit is around 120 billion won," he was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/korea-pay-7-bn-40-f-35a-fighter-105713341.html

[hobbit709]

1. so why do they want something that doesn't work?

[Sherman A1]

2. Well,

that is a very good question.

[hobbit709]

3. I always go back to the old Roman question "Cui bono?"

[psychopomp]

17. It's only a matter of time and money

The planes will perform as planned. Every major rollout goes through a myriad of upgrades, the current 5-gen fighters are no different.

[Paper Roses]

4. And how much foreign aid do we give S. Korea every year?

Nice to know they have such a big surplus for this purchase.

No matter where you turn, it is more war machines and equipment.
I'm disgusted.

[onethatcares]

7. my thought exactly

how much "aid" do we give these countries that turns right around and comes back to the pockets of the .01%??

it never stops.

Or better question; How many cupcakes did South Korea sell to get that kind of dinero?

[davidpdx]

10. Sorry, but you are wrong on that one

Last edited Thu Sep 25, 2014, 06:00 PM - Edit history (1)

Korea is not a recipient of foreign aid, they are a donator of foreign aid. They have the 15th largest economy in the world and a GDP of $1.22 trillion. You make it sounds as though they are a third world country, they aren't.

[Paper Roses]

12. Sorry, my my ignorance shows.

I Googled 'top foreign aid recipients for 2013',

Guess what came up? 2012 results from ABC.
The results raise another question. I am not versed enough to have an answer but take a look:


The list is interesting:
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/fullpage/top-10-us-foreign-aid-recipients-17534761

[psychopomp]

18. Err... that's 1.3 trillion

[davidpdx]

20. Yes, it should have been trillion

I believe 1.22 trillion is accurate.

[pangaia]

5. One of the reasons we need wars.

[unhappycamper]

6. It appears the cost of the F-35A is gong up.

$7,000,000,000 / 40- = $175,000,000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-35



Unit cost
F-35A: US$124.8 million (2013)[6]
F-35B: US$156.8M (2013)[6]
F-35C: US$142.6M (2013)[6]

[TRoN33]

9. The cost of this deal includes...

Supply of maintenance parts, back up jet engines, and Lockheed's customized computers specifically designed for diagnostics and repairs.

[EX500rider]

13. Plus initial training I bet.

[TRoN33]

8. The reality?

It's because American corporations and government lobbied heavily to S. Korea government to purchase F-35. Koch brothers played the integral part on this one also. Why? F135 jet engine is considerable far more thirsty jet engine than twin-engine Eurofighter Typhoon. Koch brothers' subsidized oil company is also one of top five biggest suppliers of military-grade jet fuels to S. Korea.

Lockheed have considerable stake in KAI's T-50 program that they are hoping it will win the contract for USAF's next generation trainer program.

South Koreans made very bad deal. They should've went with Typhoon to save money for their own fifth generation fighter programme.

[Kelvin Mace]

11. So, we will be selling them at a 50% loss

who will pick up the other 50%? Let me guess, we do.

Last I checked you can buy a single F-35 that crashes a lot, or 7 F-18 that actually work.

[EX500rider]

14. Unit cost F-35A: US$124.8 million (2013)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II

As to why they want them, I assume they want a air superiority fighter that will be better then anything China will have.

[unhappycamper]

15. Don;t believe everything you read in wikipedia

Winslow Wheeler is the best shot at finding what this crap costs.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11785030

F-35A is the cheapest variant at $149,000,000.

[EX500rider]

19. The footnotes take you to the GAO report.

United States Government Accountability Office-Report to Congressional Committees

I'll take that over your guy, thanks.

http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/661842.pdf#page=14

[Kelvin Mace]

16. That is the projected cost

excluding all the R&D costs, excluding the fact that hey still don't have a single jet that doesn't have serious deficiencies and ignoring cost overruns to correct all these deficiencies before they have a genuinely functional and deployable aircraft.

This article gives you an idea:

http://defense-update.com/20140103_much-f-35-really-costs.html

Also, even excluding the R&D costs, the Navy/Marine versions are WAY pricier:

For the Marines B, or STOVL, model, the authorized 2014 buy is six (6) aircraft for $1.267 billion in 2014 procurement, $106 million in 2013 long lead money, and $147 million in 2014 aircraft procurement modifications. That calculates to $252.3 million for each one, according to Wheeler.

For the Navy’s C, carrier-capable (but not yet), model, we get four (4) aircraft for $1.135 billion, plus $32 million in long lead, plus $31 million in modifications. That means $299.5 million for each one.

The F-35 is an over-engineered, unneeded white elephant that is not combat ready. The F-15 is FAR cheaper and has a long track record of reliability. It has been upgraded to handle all the latest developments in technology and has not ran into any serious tactical failings in the current combat environment.

Even using Lockheeds numbers, we could get three F-15s for or F-18s for the same money. Six if you are talking about the Navy version which doesn't even exist yet.

[oooooob]

21. MORE WAR MACHINES!!!

What the heck do the South Koreans need a & $7 billion fighter jet for! Man the whole world is war CRAZY! While the citizens keep getting poorer and poorer. Insanity!