A cost analysis conducted by South Korea’s Defense Acquistion Programme Administration (DAPA) has concluded that a Republic of Korea Marine Corps (RoKMC) requirement for 24 attack helicopters would be best met by the acquisition of a locally developed platform.
The year-long study, which was conducted by DAPA’s Defense Agency of Technology and Quality (DTaQ), concluded that procuring a locally developed platform capable of operating from the Republic of Korea Navy’s amphibious assault ships would be more cost effective than acquiring a foreign-made one.
Bidding for the programme began January 2019, with five companies participating: Bell Textron (proposing its AH-1Z Viper), Boeing (AH-64E Apache Guardian), Turkish Aerospace (T-129 Atak), Lockheed Martin-Sikorsky (S-70i), and Korean Aerospace Industries or KAI (Surion Marine Attack Helicopter (MAH)). KAI is the only South Korean company taking part in the bidding process.
A decision on the programme has been delayed because of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic but is expected to be made in the near future, according to South Korean military officials.
A model of the KAI Surion MAH at ADEX 2019 shows the 20 mm Gatling gun and EO/IR sensor in the nose and the stub-wing-mounted hardpoints (Janes/Gareth Jennings)
The selected platform is expected to form the backbone of the RoKMC’s Air Group, which is expected to be established in 2021, and consist of two squadrons of utility and one of attack helicopters. The RoKMC has 30 of the utility-variant MUH-1 Surion helicopters on order to support amphibious landings on South Korea’s outlying border islands. Deliveries commenced in January 2018, although one was lost to an accident later that year with the loss of six onboard.
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