A senior official of the Korean Presidential Office recently met these companies’ executives to discuss export volume, price, and timeline, following President Yoon Suk-yeol’s defense sales diplomacy during the recent NATO summit, according to these officials.

The Polish government is reportedly discussing with the Korean defense companies the acquisition of K-2 tanks from Hyundai Rotem, FA50 light attack aircraft from KAI, and K9 self-propelled artillery from Hanwha under a long-term arrangement.

The three companies’ export volume could reach up to 19 trillion Korean won ($14.5 billion) when all of those sales are added up. Specifically, Hyundai Rotem is talking with Poland to supply 180 K2 tanks (worth 3 trillion KRW, or $2.3 billion) by 2024, and the country may additionally purchase 400 K2 tanks by 2030, worth 8 trillion KRW, or $6.1 billion. KAI is discussing selling 48 light attack aircraft FA50 for 3.4 trillion KRW, or $2.6 billion. Poland also plans to purchase 670 K9 self-propelled artilleries that worth 4-5 trillion KRW, or $3 billion to $3.8 billion.

A spokesperson at the Ministry of Defense in Warsaw declined to provide details about what deals are on the table in the two countries’ negotiations, saying only details would be released soon. “The ongoing talks concern not only the acquisition of military equipment to strengthen the Polish Armed Forces, they are also related to the issues of industrial cooperation and transfer of technology,” the spokesperson told Defense News.

In an interview published by local site Wpolityce.pl on July 22, Polish National Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak confirmed Poland is finalizing negotiations with South Korea to buy 48 FA-50 aircraft and an undisclosed number of K2 tanks.

“We will receive the first units this year; in total, it will be 180 tanks in the first batch,” he said.

Defense exports to Poland would be the South Korean defense companies’ first sales to Europe, raising the prospect of additional deals there and elsewhere. Specifically, South Korean companies are eying tenders in Norway, Australia, Malaysia and Colombia.

Meanwhile, Błaszczak announced Poland has decided to buy 116 used M1 Abrams tanks from the U.S. on top of its previous order for 250 new tanks to replace the Soviet-designed T-72 tanks it has supplied to Ukraine.

“These tanks are stored by the United States Army. The first of these tanks will be delivered to the Polish Armed Forces next year. We want them to fill in the gaps left after we donated our gear to Ukraine,” Błaszczak said during a press conference on July 18.

The value of the procurement was not disclosed. However, the minister said that Warsaw will pay the U.S. for restoring the tanks’ operational capacities, an accompanying logistics package, and spare parts. Błaszczak said the 116 tanks represent “an older version” of the M1 Abrams.

The nation’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration’s promotion committee, led by Defense Minister Jong-sup Lee, on July 15 formally decided to buy 20 additional F-35As for 3.9 trillion Korean won (nearly $3 billion). South Korea plans to acquire them by 2028.

The Air Force will then have a total of 60 F-35As, as the military already operates 40 F-35A Block-Is.

The South Korean government and military plan to complete a feasibility test this year and establish a concrete acquisition plan early next year.

DAPA expects the airpower gap created by retiring outdated fighter jets of the ROK Air Force to be supplemented by the new F-35As, which are also meant to strengthen the country’s deterrence.

The plan to acquire additional F-35As already went through feasibility tests and demand verification process in 2018 and 2019, but the previous government preferred a light aircraft carrier and F-35Bs. When the new government took office this year, more serious concerns about the ROKAF’s outdated fighter jets and increasingly advanced North Korean nuclear weapons prompted Seoul to switch its defense acquisition priorities.

The test puts South Korea on the map as the world’s eighth country to have developed supersonic fighter jets, 20 years after former president Daejung Kim ordered the development of a Korean fighter.

The Air Force and KAI previously conducted a successful ground-based engine thrust test late last month.

The KF-21, armed with 4 METEOR air-to-air missiles and piloted by Maj. Junhyeon Ahn of the Air Foce Test and Evaluation Unit, took off from an Air Force base near KAI’s headquarters in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, at 3:40 p.m. local time. The fighter jet flew at a speed of 400 km/h (200 knots) for 30 minutes to check basic functions of the jet’s body, landing safely at 4:13 p.m.

KAI plans to conduct around 2000 test flights with six prototypes until June 2026, followed by mass production in the same year. The Korean Air Force considers deploying 120 KF-21s by 2032.

The aircraft type would be verified as a potentially combat-capable asset at the end of 2023, and additional ordnance tests for KF-21 Block-2 will be conducted in 2026.

Forty Block-1 jets are envisioned to be capable of air-to-air battles while 80 Block-2 jets that will be deployed as of 2028 are meant to also perform air-to-ground engagements.

The two key components, an electronic radar and an infrared target tracker, were developed by Hanwha Systems with local technology and supplied to the first KF-21 prototype. A radio frequency jammer and integrated electronic warfare suite were supplied by LIG Nex1.

The KF-21 is expected to be armed with South Korea-developed ALCM (air-launched cruise missile) and 10 other air-to-ground weapons, including METEOR air-to-air missiles for the first time in Asia.

The cruise missiles will give the fighter a precision strike capability over long distances, outside an enemy’s air defense or interception system. The Korean military also plans to place hypersonic missiles, currently in development, on the KF-21.

During a July 6 seminar led by President Yoon Suk Yeol, the ministry discussed key defense policies meant to counter the threat of North Korean nuclear missiles, including the Kill Chain strategy and well as more efficient efforts to develop defense capabilities.

The ministry said the strategic command, which would fall under the purview of the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, is to integrate and efficiently operate all South Korean armed forces’ strategic weapons systems, currently controlled by each military branch individually. The command would also give the orders to subordinate military assets to strike enemy targets or intercept hostile missiles as part of the Kill Chain strategy and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation plan.

Kill Chain is a preemptive strike strategy that the South Korean military would implement against key North Korean military facilities, such as missile silos, when intelligence organizations confirm an imminent attack. KMPR involves the use of ballistic missiles and highly explosive weapons against an offensive nuclear attack. Its purpose is essentially the total destruction of North Korea’s capital Pyongyang.

The units and capabilities that would fall under the forthcoming strategic include:

• The Army’s Missile and Strategic Command, which operates Hyunmoo ballistic missiles.
• The Air Force’s Missile Defense Command, which operates PAC-3 anti-air missiles, F-35A fighter jets and Global Hawk surveillance aircraft.
• The Navy’s 3000-ton submarines that feature sub-launched ballistic missiles.
• Military surveillance satellites.
• Cyberwarfare- and space-focused forces.

The military is also expected to adjust the duties of the Army’s Missile and Strategic Command and the Air Force’s Missile Defense Command.

“The key assets of Kill Chain and KMPR are individually managed by the Army, Navy and Air Force. I can assure that the STRATCOM [strategic command] would be highly efficient if those divided strategic assets of each military branch are combined as one single unit,” Uk Yang, the associate research fellow of Asan Institute for policy studies, told Defense News.

The former commander of the Air Force’s Air Defense Command, Myung-guk Kwon, agreed. “This means that one commander at a combined command center could execute offensive and defensive operations based on analyses of coherent information. I believe this will be an efficient command system.”

For the chain of command, a three-star general or admiral is expected to take the lead of the planned command, with the military branches taking turns to lead.

The Defense Ministry also said it plans to strengthen intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities; preemptive strike capabilities; and the country’s missile defense architecture.

The Agency for Defense Development announced its research and development project at a seminar last month, a key part of which is the application of ducted rocket propulsion technology. The agency is now looking at adding an air inlet to the K239′s rockets to enable longer combustion time.

Ducted rockets absorb external air and combine it with a gas generator for combustion, thus producing thrust and a longer range. (The MBDA-made Meteor is one example of a rocket that uses ducted technology.)

Combustion efficiency is further improved with the addition of a valve that controls the flow of gas for maneuvering.

The longer range is meant to serve as a countermeasure to North Korea’s multiple rocket launchers, which can target bases 150-200 kilometers away.

South Korea’s missile force has more than 600 Hyunmoo-2 short-range ballistic missiles with a range of 300-800 kilometers; 400 Hyunmoo-3 cruise missiles with a range of 500-1,500 kilometers; and the newly developed Hyunmoo 4-4 submarine-launched ballistic missile. However, the Army lacks a transporter erector launcher, which would help it strike North Korean military targets in the event of a conflict.

The Agency for Defense Development anticipates the longer-range K239 to help the Army offset its insufficient missile arsenal. For example, if the agency’s efforts are successful, the K239 MLR could simultaneously attack 12 enemy targets, providing a long-range strike capability and allowing the military to use its ballistic missiles for high-value targets instead.