Russia Offers PAK FA To South Korea

     Stephen Trimble over at The DEW Line reports that Russia is offering the PAK FA to South Korea for the FX-III section of the FX fighter competition.

      When the PAK FA was unveiled last year, Russia has been working with India to develop a variant of the PAK FA for the Indian Air Force. The PAK FA is still in the testing phase, and will probably not enter service for another 1-5 years, but that does not mean it is unavailable for export (a good example of this would be the F-35). 

     South Korea has been running a fighter competition since 1999, with the 1st and 2nd phases culminating in the purchase of 61 F-15K Slam Eagles. Competing in in the 3rd phase for an order of 60 aircraft, are the Lockheed Martin F-35, Boeing F-15SE, and the Sukhoi PAK FA. Of these three the F-15SE is, in my view the leading contender for the contract, due to the fact that South Korea already manufactures parts for the F-15K, and thus would be compatible with some parts from the F-15K. The other two contenders, the F-35 and PAK FA, are not as appealing to Seoul, due to the facts that the F-35 is having problems, and is rising in cost, and that the PAK FA is still in flight testing and would cause South Korea to rely on Russia for parts and weapons for them. On top of this, the F-15SE offers a reduced radar signature, and similar payload, when compared to the F-15K. Along with proven performance compared to the F-35 and PAK FA.

       Another one of the main factors South Korea will be factoring in, is how these aircraft will perform in a war with North Korea. The F-15SE has a larger payload and better maneuvering than the F-35, and is compatible with American missiles which is what South Korea uses. The PAK FA on the other hand is only compatible with Russian missiles, which would mean South Korea would have to purchase weapons from Russia, and that brings up the possibility of Russia not selling the missiles in a war with North Korea.

     As the F-X contest continues, it will be interesting to see which aircraft South Korea chooses, and why they chose it.

     

     

Photo Credit: The DEW Line 

The F-15 Silent Eagle: A Dark Horse

     With all the talk about the Air Force's next fighter being centered on the F-35, there has been another aircraft that has been all but forgotten, the Boeing F-15 Silent Eagle (F-15SE).
     The F-15SE is a variant of the F-15 Strike Eagle (F-15E), which is itself a variant of the original F-15 Eagle.

     The F-15SE has a top speed of Mach 2.5 (1855 MPH), versus Mach 1.5 to 1.8 (1113 to 1335 MPH) for the F-35A (the Air Force variant). The F-15SE also has a longer mission radius of between 1333 kilometers to 1667 km for an air-to-air loadout, and a mission radius of between 1482 km to 1852 km for a air-to-ground loadout. In comparison, the F-35A has a mission radius of 1082km which is 11km under the Air Force's requirements.
   

     However, the F-15SE's main advantage lies in it's cost, 1 F-15 would cost about 100 million dollars, versus the F-35A which costs 193 million dollars in the LRIP-5 (Low Rate Initial Production) batch in fiscal year 2012. On top of this the F-15SE is actually a stealth aircraft, Boeing has converted the F-15E's CFTs (Conformal Fuel Tanks) into CWBs (Conformal Weapons Bay), which can carry either air-to-air weapons (AIM-120, AIM-9X) or air-to-ground weapons (SDB, JDAM).

     With the Air Force approaching a fighter shortfall, and the two replacements for early model F-15s and F-16s (F-22 and the F-35) not meeting expectations, there is serious need for a fighter to close the gap.

     
   

  Photo Credit: Aviation Earth