South Korea approves quest for transport aircraft
This RAF A400M Atlas attended Seoul ADEX 2015, indicating even back then that Airbus was looking to sell its transport aircraft to South Korea. (Gordon Arthur)
South Korea is seeking new heavy-lift transport aircraft to support overseas deployments and domestic use.
On 25 March, the Defense Production Promotion Committee in South Korea approved a Heavy-lift Transport Aircraft II project to obtain new transporters for the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF).
Under this programme, a total of KRW710 billion ($568 million) will be set aside to procure four-engine aircraft between 2022 and 2026, according to the 142nd session of the committee.
The aircraft are needed for peacetime, international peacekeeping, emergency and combat operations. They are especially required to ensure a strategic-lift capacity to overseas destinations.
The field of likely contenders is narrow, with just Lockheed Martin’s C-130J Super Hercules and Airbus’
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