South Korea orders USD74 million worth of airborne munitions from Elbit Systems

Israeli company Elbit Systems announced on 11 November that it has secured contracts from South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) worth a combined USD74 million for the supply of a range of airborne munitions.

The Haifa-based company said the munitions will be provided over five years as part of the Republic of Korea Air Force's (RoKAF's) ‘Precision Fires Program' but provided no further details about the exact type or the total number of the munitions on order.

The latest developments come after DAPA announced on 2 November that the Defense Project Promotion Committee had approved the acquisition of an undisclosed number of additional 2,000 lb GPS-guided bombs for the RoKAF. Janes understands that the items set to be purchased include both the BLU-109/B (earth-penetrating) and BLU-117 (general-purpose) bombs, along with GPS guidance kits and ID260MF multifunctional fuzes.

DAPA, which at the time said that a contract was expected to be signed within the year, pointed out that the acquisition is part of a KRW470 billion (USD398.6 million) project that began in 2020 and is set to be completed in 2027.

It is likely that the additional 2,000 lb GPS-guided bombs are meant to arm the RoKAF's KF-16 and F-15K multirole fighters, based on their known weapon payload configuration.