Text Fwd: S. Korea to Develop Radar With Israel

Korea Times
[Exclusive] S. Korea to Develop Radar With Israel
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
07-23-2009 17:08

South Korea will develop an indigenous mechanically scanned array (MESA) radar for aircraft with the help of Israel, officials at the Defense Acquisition Program (DAPA) said Thursday.

LIG Nex1, a leading defense firm in South Korea, will sign a deal with Israel's Elta Systems on the first phase of development of radars to equip TA-50 light-armed aircraft and FA-50 attack fighters, they said.

Both firms will hold a signing ceremony Sept. 3 in Seoul.

The TA-50 and FA-50 are modified versions of the T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer jet jointly built by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Lockheed Martin of the United States.

The South Korean Air Force is buying 82 T-50 variants — 50 T-50s, 22 TA-50s and 10 T-50Bs modified for aerobatics.

KAI signed a deal last December to develop and produce 60 FA-50s by 2012 to replace A-37 attack jets and F-4/5 fighters as backup to the Air Force's KF-16s and F-15Ks.

Under the envisaged agreement, LIG Nex1 will push for developing an indigenous MESA radar based on the Israeli firm's EL/M-2032 radar technologies, agency officials said.

The EL/M-2032 radar is credited with a look-up tracking range of 65 to 100 kilometers.

``The indigenous radar is expected to be built by the end of 2010 and subsequently enter service in 2011,'' a DAPA official said, asking to remain anonymous.

In the mid- to long-term, the domestically-built radar is likely to be installed on upgraded KF-16 fighters and further developed to an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar to equip ``KF-X'' fighters with technology transfers from Elta, sources said.

Initiated in 2001, the KF-X program aims to develop more than 120 indigenous fighters by 2020 in partnership with foreign aircraft manufacturers.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr