▲ This undated file photo, provided by the Air Force, shows the F-15K fighter. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

S Korea-defense projects

S. Korea earmarks additional 1 tln won to upgrade F-15K fighters

SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Yonhap) -- The government has approved a plan to spend more than 1 trillion won (US$696 million) than initially planned to upgrade its F-15K fighter fleets in deployment since 2005, the state arms procurement agency said Monday.

The Defense Project Promotion Committee passed four agenda items, including a 4.56 trillion-won project to strengthen the mission capabilities and survivability of the F-15K jets by upgrading key avionic equipment through 2037, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).

Under the project, DAPA plans to replace the current F-15K's aging radar system with the advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array radar, expand the memory size of mission computers and upgrade the jet's electronic warfare system to a completely automatic system.

The approved amount is bigger than the 3.46 trillion won the committee allocated in a December 2022 meeting.

DAPA attributed the increase to a global rise in the cost of materials and maintenance fees amid a restructuring of supply chains.

Also among the projects that were approved in Monday's meeting were a 661.5 billion-won project to develop homegrown short-range air-to-air missiles to be fitted on the KF-21 fighter and a 807.6 billion-won project to upgrade six 1,800-ton submarines.

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