Defense Policy

With delay in US, South Korea turns to Europe for air-to-air missile technology

DefenseNews: South Korea is looking to achieve European air-to-air missile technology as part of its key arms procurement offset programs.

The Defence Acquisition Program Administration, or DAPA, made public March 5 a list of 18 weapons procurement programs eligible for this year’s offset deals. Those include the integration of MBDA’s Meteor long-range missiles and IRIS-T short-range missiles into the future fighter jet, dubbed KF-X, to be locally developed by 2026.

“A key goal for these offset programs is to help local defense companies acquire foreign weapons technology or participate in arms procurement projects,” DAPA spokesman Kang Hwan-seok said. “If our small and mid-defense companies, in particular, have the opportunity to join key arms procurement programs as suppliers, the competitiveness of domestic defense technology could leap forward.”

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