South Korea voted against Boeing’s F-15 Silent Eagle in its 8.3 trillion won (€5.7 billion) tender for 60 fighter jets, the country’s arms procurement agency said on Tuesday, saying it will restart the project.
“DAPA...will swiftly pursue the programme again in order to minimise the vacuum in combat capabilities,” South Korea’s Defense Acquistion Program Administration (DAPA) said in a statement.
Boeing’s F-15 had been the only bid out of three that was under-budget and eligible to win the country’s largest-ever defense import deal under South Korean law.
Bids by rival Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35A and Eurofighter consortium's Typhoon were both over budget.
Some 15 South Korean former air force chiefs signed a petition in late August opposing the selection of Boeing’s F-15SE, saying it lacked the stealth capabilities of more modern aircraft.
The F-35A had once been the favourite as it was the only model that met the initial stealth requirements the South Korean air force submitted. But that requirement was relaxed in 2011 to allow for more competitors and bring the bid prices down.