Article Posted on : - Jun 26, 2018

The P-8A Poseidon aircraft of the US. A file photo

SEOUL (BNS): South Korea on Monday announced to buy the Boeing-built P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft for its Navy in a deal worth US$ 1.7 billion.

The aircraft will be purchased through a government-to-government deal under the US’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme, the South Korean defence procurement agency DAPA said.

"(We have decided) to purchase the latest maritime patrol aircraft for conducting patrol, search and rescue operations through the FMS programme from the US government, in consideration of the cost, time schedule, capabilities as well as the legal aspect," the Yonhap news agency reported quoting an official statement from DAPA.

Besides Boeing, Europe's Airbus Defense & Space and Sweden's SAAB were also in contention for the project.

"It appears that the plane that we can purchase at this point in time is the P-8A, and we don't believe there is any problem with the purchase decision," an official was quoted as saying by Yonhap.

The South Korean military is pushing to introduce an unspecified number of maritime aircraft between 2022 and 2023, the news report said.

The P-8 Poseidon multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft is based on the Boeing 737-800 airframe with state-of-the art equipment for maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare.