Eurofighter trying to stay in consideration for jet fighter project

Posted on : 2013-08-20 14:22 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Company was eliminated for making a bid that exceeded the project’s total budget
 4 x AMRAAM air-to-air missiles
4 x AMRAAM air-to-air missiles

By Kim Kyu-won, staff reporter

The day after the Eurofighter was effectively eliminated from the bidding for the South Korean next generation jet fighter project because the bid exceeded the project budget, Eurofighter representatives have come forward with a different opinion, saying that they did not break the contract in the final bidding.

“The documents and proposals submitted by Eurofighter in the final bidding did not violate the contract in the scope of Korea’s request for a proposal,” said Christian Scherer, chief of international operations for Cassidian, the Eurofighter’s manufacturer, in a press release issued on Aug. 19.

The press release suggests that the Eurofighter manufacturers do not accept the statement made by South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) the previous day. DAPA claimed that Eurofighter changed the conditions agreed upon in previous negotiations when it offered its final price in the bidding and that the plane exceeded the total budget of the project.

DAPA said on Aug. 18 that the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) had violated conditions agreed upon in the negotiations. EADS reduced the number of two-seaters from the 15 already agreed upon to 6 in the final price bidding and excluded the cost of R&D for integrating weapons systems from the price, the agency said.

“During the negotiations, we had expressed our position that the number of two-seaters that the South Korean authorities had requested was excessive, and we never promised 15 two-seaters,” Scherer said.

Scherer also addressed South Korea’s request for a weapons system integration. “The Eurofighter is a completely designed fighter, and there is no weapons system development cost that we have to consider,” he said. “It is not appropriate to ask Eurofighter to shoulder the cost incurred by additional features requested by DAPA.”

“If we are given another opportunity to negotiate with DAPA, we are always ready to engage in constructive discussions,” Scherer said, making it clear that the Eurofighter intends to remain in the running for the fighter project.

This was corroborated by a figure at the agency representing EADS in South Korea who said on condition of anonymity, “We will negotiate the number of two-seaters with DAPA after deliberating with our home office.”

Kim Yeon-hwan, chief of aircraft projects at DAPA, responded to this, denying that the agency had said that the Eurofighter had been “eliminated” from the project.

Even so, Kim reconfirmed that the Eurofighter could not be selected in this project. “A fighter that exceeds the total project budget in the final bidding cannot be chosen as the next-generation fighter,” he said.

 

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