The State Department approved a possible $2.5 billion Foreign Military Sale (FMS) request to South Korea for the KF-16 Upgrade Program and associated equipment, parts and logistical support.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notified Congress of the potential sale on July 14.
The primary contractors would be Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Northrop Grumman [NOC]. The purchaser requested offsets, which would be defined in further negotiations between the purchaser and contractor.
The requested FMS would include the upgrade of 134 KF-16C/D Block 52 aircraft, to include: 150 Modular Mission Computers (MMC 7000AH), 150 Active Electronically Scanned Array Radars (AESA), 150 AN/APX-125 or equivalent Advanced Identification Friend or Foe (AIFF) Systems, 150 LN-260 Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation Systems, 150 Upgraded Radar Warning Receivers (RWR), 150 AN/ALQ-213 EW Management Units, three Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) II Group C Helmets, 150 JHMCS II Group A and B, 31 Joint Mission Planning Systems (JMPS), five GBU-54 Laser Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), five KMU-57C/B Bomb Tail Kits, two GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb Guided Test Vehicles, eight GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb Tactical Training Rounds, two BRU-61 Small Diameter Bomb Common Carriage Assemblies, five MK-82 General Purpose Practice Bombs, two Joint Programmable Fuzes, two CBU-105 Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) Sensor Fuzed Weapons (SFW), one CNU-411C/E, WCMD Container, two ATM-65 Maverick Training Missiles, two ATM-84 Harpoon Block II Training Missiles, two AGM-84 Harpoon Block II Guidance Units, two CATM-9X-2 Captive Air Training Missiles, and one AIM-9X-2 Guidance Unit.
The sale would also include containers, missile support and test equipment, provisioning, spare and repair parts, personnel training and training equipment, publications and technical documentation, U.S. government and contractor technical support services, and other related elements of logistics and program support.
DSCA highlighted the importance of assisting a key ally in its self-defense capability.
South Korea would use the KF-16 modernization support “to protect and maintain critical airspace and provide a powerful defensive and offensive capability to preserve the security of the Korean peninsula and its vital national assets,” DSCA said in a statement.
Implementation of the FMS would require the travel of about two U.S. government personnel to South Korea on a permanent basis, potentially until contract completion, for program technical support and management oversight. The sale would also require contractor personnel to travel in-country to meet similar requirements, although the exact number is to be defined during the contract negotiation.