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| Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II (File Photo) |
By COLIN CLARK
WASHINGTON: You can imagine the whoops at Lockheed Martin’s Bethesda and Fort Worth offices today when the South Korean government dumped Boeing’s F-15 “Silent Eagle” in favor of a stealthy aircraft likely to be the F-35.
“Our air force thinks that we need combat capabilities in response to the latest trend of aerospace technology development centered around the fifth generation fighter jets and to provocations from North Korea,” defense ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters today in Seoul.
Boeing, on the other hand, said this through spokesman Conrad Chun:
“Boeing is deeply disappointed by the DAPEC decision. Boeing has rigorously followed DAPA’s instructions throughout the whole process. We await details from DAPA on its basis for the delay while evaluating our next options.”
It’s fair to say that Boeing’s use of the term “delay” is relentlessly hopeful. The hard core of the matter is that the South Korean military, looking north to China and east to Japan, values stealth enough to pay for it. Is the Silent Eagle stealthy? Here’s how Boeing describes it: “Using a modular design approach, the F-15SE offers unique aerodynamic, avionic and Radar Cross Section (RCS)-reduction features that provide the user with maximum flexibility to dominate the ever-changing advanced threat environment.” Bottom line: while the Boeing entry may not be as obvious to sensors as a conventional F-15, it cannot be described as stealthy.
Read the full story at Breaking Defense
WASHINGTON: You can imagine the whoops at Lockheed Martin’s Bethesda and Fort Worth offices today when the South Korean government dumped Boeing’s F-15 “Silent Eagle” in favor of a stealthy aircraft likely to be the F-35.
“Our air force thinks that we need combat capabilities in response to the latest trend of aerospace technology development centered around the fifth generation fighter jets and to provocations from North Korea,” defense ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters today in Seoul.
Boeing, on the other hand, said this through spokesman Conrad Chun:
“Boeing is deeply disappointed by the DAPEC decision. Boeing has rigorously followed DAPA’s instructions throughout the whole process. We await details from DAPA on its basis for the delay while evaluating our next options.”
It’s fair to say that Boeing’s use of the term “delay” is relentlessly hopeful. The hard core of the matter is that the South Korean military, looking north to China and east to Japan, values stealth enough to pay for it. Is the Silent Eagle stealthy? Here’s how Boeing describes it: “Using a modular design approach, the F-15SE offers unique aerodynamic, avionic and Radar Cross Section (RCS)-reduction features that provide the user with maximum flexibility to dominate the ever-changing advanced threat environment.” Bottom line: while the Boeing entry may not be as obvious to sensors as a conventional F-15, it cannot be described as stealthy.
Read the full story at Breaking Defense