Washington. The United States has cleared a pair of foreign military sales that could earn American weapons companies about US$715 million.
The first is support and services for South Korea’s planned procurement of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at an estimated price tag of US$675 million. The second is sale of 199 Excalibur Increment IB M982Al tactical projectiles going to the Netherlands with an estimated price tag of US$40.55 million.
The sales were posted on the website of the Defence Security Cooperation Agency. DSCA notifications are not final sales; once cleared by Congress, the sales enter negotiations, during which quantities and costs can shift.
The South Korean package requests “follow-on support and services for its F-35 aircraft, engines, and weapons; publications and technical documentation; support equipment; spare and repair parts; repair and return; test equipment; software delivery and support; pilot flight equipment; personnel training equipment; US Government and contractor technical and logistics support services; and other related elements of programme support,” according to one of the notifications.
Thousands of high-profile South Korean workers will start losing paychecks come April one, which is likely to make negotiations between Seoul and Washington even more difficult than it’s already going.
The prime contractors are Lockheed Martin, which produces the fifth-generation fighter, and Pratt & Whitney, which makes the F135 engine used on the jet. Any offset arrangements are yet to be decided.
