The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) will seek to incorporate new transport and cargo aircraft by 2026.
As reported by Yonhap news agency, the Defense Projects Promotion Committee approved a budget of about US$580 million for the acquisition of new military transport aircraft.
European aircraft manufacturer Airbus’ A400M, Brazilian Embraer’s C390 and U.S. defense firm Lockheed Martin’s C130J are expected to compete for the project.
The aforementioned contenders could be required to make significant technology transfers to assist in the development of the future national transport aircraft, proposed by KAI.
Korean transport aircraft
In mid-2021, Korean aerospace giant Korean Aircraft Industires (KAI) submitted a project to develop its own medium-weight, twin-engine, multi-role military transport plane.
The proposed design has a configuration similar to that of a KC-390 or An-178, but has the special feature that its wings incorporate hardpoints to accommodate different types of guided munitions.
According to the material made public, KAI’s project should not only fulfill the tasks of a millitary transport, but should also assume other roles, such as tanker aircraft, maritime exploration and anti-submarine warfare platform, intelligence, drone deployment and even long-range missile ground attack aircraft.
So far, no new information has emerged about this project, nor is it known if it has awakened serious interest from the Government.
