US playing dirty pool in Korea

Just got this from Defence daily:

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US Threatens to Cut Korea Loose over Fighter contract

31 July 2001

The United States will refuse to help integrate crucial weapon systems if Korea looks elsewhere to fulfil its new fighter programme. A request by the ROK Air Force to confirm that the US would be willing to integrate American built weapons with the Eurofighter-Typhoon, Rafale, or Su-35 aircraft has been denied by the US Defence Security Co-operation Agency (DSCA). The three fighters are competing with the F-15 for the programme, code-named F-X, which is worth an estimated $3.3 billion.

F15K
In a letter viewed by the Korea Times, the director for Middle East Asia and North Africa at the DSCA, Edward W. Ross said, “At this time, we can’t respond positively to your request for Letters of Offer and Acceptance (LOAs) for the integration of various US weapon systems”.

The weapon systems involved enable the craft to communicate with each other and identify hostile targets and it is thought that the withdrawal of US assistance could have potentially disastrous results. “All other products except for F-15s need integration work for cryptographic systems and weapons since the existing ROK Air Force fleet is so integrated and needs to fly with US fighters in the Korean theatre,” one ROK military official said.

This attempt to pressurise the Koreans could stem from doubts over the lifespan of the Boeing F-15 fighter. If the F-X programme was to opt elsewhere it is feasible that international demand would not be sufficient to ensure the continued production of the F-15.

However, Boeing has strongly refuted any such claims. “Even if Korea does not buy F-15, the production line will keep running as Boeing has other customers such as Israel and Saudi Arabia,” said a Boeing official.

If the F-X contract does not go to F-15 it would mean a period of lengthy negotiations between both the US and Korean governments and the chosen aircraft manufacturer in order to find a satisfactory solution to the problem of integration. For this reason, along with the desire to keep relations with the US healthy, it seems likely that Korea will bow to Stateside pressure.

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So is this the toys being thrown out of the pram on Boeings part or is this a shrewd business move from a company that knows its product might not be all that competetive?

Thoughts,
Steve