SEOUL (AFP) — South Korea will buy 21 fighter jets from Boeing by 2012, bringing to 61 the total number of its next-generation fighters, the defence ministry said Friday.
A government panel on Friday approved a 2.3 trillion won (2.3 billion dollars) contract to buy F-15K fighter jets from Boeing, the Defence Acquisition Programme Administration (DAPA) of the defence ministry said.
South Korea has already purchased 40 F-15Ks at a cost of 4.6 billion dollars. The last 10 of the 40 jets will be delivered later this year.
The new aircraft will be delivered between 2010 and 2012.
"The new aircraft are expected to make up for the aging fighter jets and bolster strategic deterrence," a spokesman for the DAPA told journalists.
South Korea wants to increase the number of so-called next-generation fighter jets to 120 by 2020 to better counter threats from its neighbors, according to the air force.
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