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Members of the South Korean military stand in front of a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance plane at Osan Air Force Base, Gyeonggi province. Lee Jong-Geun
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Reconnaissance planes would increase intelligence-gathering capability
South Korea said that it has tested two reconnaissance jets, one produced by U.S.’s Boeing Co. and the other by Israel’s IAI, raising the possibility for the two rivals to compete for a bid from the South Korean military. Boeing’s B-737 model and IAI’s ELTA G-550 model are the top two contendors to supply early-warning reconnaissance jets to South Korea’s military. The purchase is part of the so-called E-X project, designed to enhance the independent capability of South Korea’s air force in detecting the movement of North Korean and other troops.The defense ministry will evaluate pricing proposals from the two companies before making its final decision, expected in late July or early August. Sources said that IAI’s ELTA G-550 model is more likely to be chosen, due to its lower cost, though its performance lags slightly behind Boeing’s B-737, the sources say. An airborne early warning system, commonly known as AWACS, is the major feature of such reconnaissance planes, which can stay in the air for many hours and detect objects using 360-degree radar. South Korea plans to spend 2 trillion won (2 billion USD) to buy four such planes by 2012.
