The military authorities decided on the 30th to introduce an airborne control aircraft from U.S. defense company L3Harris. An airborne control aircraft detects a wide area and forms a network with fighter jets, ground-based air defenses, and fleets to command and control operations, so it is also called the "command post in the sky."
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said that at the 171st Defense Acquisition Program Committee meeting held that day, it reviewed candidate models for the second airborne control aircraft project and decided to introduce the Global 6500 proposed by L3Harris. The Republic of Korea Air Force currently operates four E-737 Peace Eye airborne control aircraft made by U.S. company Boeing, and it had planned to procure additional aircraft through this second project. The total project cost for the second airborne control aircraft program is 3.099 trillion won, and the project period runs until 2032.
The second project was carried out to prepare for increased aerial threats from North Korea and neighboring countries. Judging that it needed to strengthen its aerial surveillance and airborne control capabilities, the military authorities decided to purchase four additional airborne control aircraft. L3Harris and Swedish defense company Saab took part in this project. Based on the military authorities' evaluation, L3Harris, which proposed a model that mounts the EL/W-2085 radar from Israeli defense company ELTA on the latest Global 6500 from Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier, received the higher score.
DAPA explained, "There was no significant difference in the evaluation of the performance of the equipment," adding, "L3Harris received high marks in operational suitability, contribution to the domestic defense industry, and operation and maintenance expense areas. Saab received high marks in contract terms and acquisition expense, but when the scores for each evaluation item were combined, L3Harris received the higher score."
At the committee meeting that day, the basic plan for the long-range air-to-air guided weapon system development project was also reviewed and approved. This project is to research and develop, under the lead of the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), a long-range air-to-air missile to be mounted on the Korean fighter jet KF-21. The total project cost is 753.5 billion won, and the project period runs until 2033.