US approves possible additional F-35 sale to South Korea

South Korea's original 2013 request to purchase Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIs cited a figure of 60 aircraft. This number was curtailed to 40 due to budgetary reasons. The South Korean government backed a proposal to acquire an additional 20 F-35As in 2022. (South Korea Ministry of National Defense)

The US State Department has approved a possible Foreign Military Sales (FMS) of up to 25 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIs to South Korea.

The aircraft and related equipment have an estimated contract price of USD5.06 billion. This includes up to 26 Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 engines (of which, one will be a spare), AN/PYQ-10 Simple Key Loaders (SKL), KIV-78 Cryptographic Appliques, and Electronic Warfare (EW) Reprogramming Lab support.

Other components of the possible sale include Cartridge Actuated Devices/Propellant Actuated Devices (CADs/PADs), classified software delivery and support, contractor logistics support (CLS), aircraft and munitions support and support equipment, spare parts, consumables, accessories, repair/return support, aircraft engine component improvement program (CIP) support, secure communications, precision navigation, and cryptographic devices.

The proposed sale also includes the F-35 Block 4 upgrade, along with major modifications, maintenance, and maintenance support.

The US announcement comes over a year after South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced in July 2022 the decision to procure 20 additional F-35s. In March 2023 DAPA said that acquisition costs of these 20 aircraft were KRW3.75 trillion (USD2.87 billion). South Korea intends to acquire the additional aircraft between 2023 and 2028.