Is Baekdu Reconnaissance Aircraft an Upgrade or a New Development?

The improved Baekdu reconnaissance aircraft is scheduled to make its maiden flight on the 8th at TSTC Airport in Waco, Texas, USA, led by the American defense company L3.

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The second phase of the Baekdu Reconnaissance Aircraft system development project is being relaunched. Although the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced a bid for the Baekdu Reconnaissance Aircraft system development project on June 30, Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) submitted a proposal alone, resulting in no competitive bidding.

On the 19th, a military official said, "The bid was canceled, and a re-announcement was made on the 18th," adding, "We plan to make a final decision by the 30th among the companies that submit proposals."

The duration of the Baekdu Reconnaissance Aircraft second system development project is from 2021 to 2026, with a total project cost of approximately 870 billion KRW. Through this project, four new reconnaissance aircraft will be introduced to replace the Baekdu Reconnaissance Aircraft introduced in the 1990s. The four Baekdu Reconnaissance Aircraft targeted for performance upgrades are expected to use Dassault Falcon 2000LXS business jets from the same company, as the French Dassault Falcon 2000S has been discontinued.

Initially, it was expected that Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Korean Air would compete in the Baekdu Reconnaissance Aircraft second system development project. However, Korean Air did not submit a proposal for the first announcement. At the 'KAI CEO Investor Day' held on March 29 for major domestic and foreign institutional investors and analysts, Ahn Hyun-ho, CEO of Korean Aerospace Industries, stated plans to focus on mass production of the KF-X fighter, domestic development of military transport aircraft, and modification and development of special mission aircraft.

Previously, the military conducted the first phase project from 2011 to 2018, spending over 400 billion KRW to develop two new Baekdu Reconnaissance Aircraft. They purchased French Dassault Falcon 2000S business jets and equipped them with information collection equipment and transmission/reception systems from LIG Nex1 and Hanwha Systems.

However, DAPA has been criticized for not standardizing during the first phase project, making project delays inevitable. Standardization refers to the project procedure that specifies manufacturing methods. This is ultimately why DAPA calls the project a system development project in the second phase, even though it should be called a performance upgrade project.

Inside and outside the military, it is believed that during the 2017 upgrade project, the lack of a standardization process meant no fixed standards existed, requiring the creation of new standards. The military expects that even if the upgrade project for the four Baekdu Reconnaissance Aircraft proceeds, the upgrade period will be delayed from 4 years to 8 years.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.