LIG Nex1 on Contract to Develop New EW Aircraft for RoKAF

BY RICHARD SCOTT

Domestic EW company LIG Nex1 has been awarded a 1.56 trillion won ($1.08 billion) contract by South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) as prime contractor and system integrator for a new specialist electronic warfare (EW) aircraft for the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF).

Two aircraft, based on the Bombardier Global 6500 business jet air vehicle, will be delivered under Block I of the Korean Electronic Warfare Aircraft Research and Development Project. DAPA selected LIG Nex1, partnered by Korean Air, over a rival bid tendered by Korea Aerospace Industries and Hanwha Systems.

The RoKAF intends the new aircraft to undertake both signals intelligence and, in wartime, stand-off electronic attack. LIG Nex1 will take responsibility for developing the EW mission payload and overall systems integration, while Korean Air will undertake the role-adaptation of the Global 6500 airframes and perform mission system installation and integration in the aircraft.

System development and delivery of the two Block I aircraft is planned to run through to June 2034. Two additional aircraft, built to an improved baseline, are planned under Block II.