Summary South Korea's Defence Acquisition Programme Administration plans to announce final winner in July.
Seoul (AFP) - Korean Air and European aerospace giant Airbus have signed an agreement to jointly bid for an $8-billion jet fighter project, an airline spokesman said Sunday, pitting them against a team comprised of Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries.
The project is designed to develop and produce 120 fighter jets to replace the country s ageing fleet of F-4s and F-5s.
"We ve signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus," a Korean Air spokesman told AFP.
One of the conditions of the bid is that local enterprises should tie up with foreign companies to secure technological assistance, according to Seoul s Yonhap news agency.
The pair will compete with Korea Aerospace Industries, which has teamed up with America s Lockheed Martin.
South Korea s Defence Acquisition Programme Administration plans to announce the final winner in July.
The country s military has overwhelmingly chosen US suppliers in the past, especially where the air force is concerned, reflecting their close military alliance.
But Airbus has also made a number of bids for the South s military contracts in recent years, including a $1.38 billion deal to provide air refuelling tankers. The final bidder for the deal has not been chosen yet.
