▲ KF-21 taking off during flight test. The export of the FA-50 is significant as an export marketing for the KF-21.
Many people applauded the achievement of exporting a large number of FA-50 light attack aircraft, K2 tanks, and K9 self-propelled guns to Poland.
Our defense industry started from the ground up and now we have developed a supersonic fighter, a favorite of defense science.
A couple of months have passed since then.
Another story is coming out.
In order to give fighters, tanks, and self-propelled artillery to Poland first, our military's introduction of the weapon is likely to be delayed.
It was also said to create a security gap.
If we look closely, it is more beneficial than real to divert a portion of the amount we plan to introduce to our military to export to Poland.
This is not the first time, nor is it a case in other countries.
In the past government, it has been more aggressively promoted.
Democrats and their aides won't even know.
It is an embarrassing level to call it a security vacuum.
I can't understand the situation where we have to launch an offensive against the presidential office and the government in the face of a state audit, but I hope you don't forcefully touch the military and domestic weapons.
Why defense exports are essential
In the defense market, the government and military have absolute positions.
Because it is a monopolistic consumer, it reigns over the company.
When the military raises a riot, companies turn their factories around, and if the military does not place orders, they have to stop the factories.
Since there are not many companies, competition is fierce when a business announcement is made.
So, the domestic defense market is like a heavenly field, waiting for disposal, looking only at the sky.
The only way to buy is to export.
If you can increase the competitiveness of domestic weapons and sell them abroad, you can avoid the dreadful life of supremacy.
This is the reason why our defense companies are using their flags and pioneering export markets.
However, there is almost no room for Korea on the periphery to penetrate the Western arms market dominated by defense science powerhouses such as the United States, France, Britain, and Israel.
This Polish jackpot is finally opening a small niche.
Enlarging an image
Defense exports are economically and security-wise.
When defense companies export and open their doors, business and production conditions improve, which in turn leads to improvement in the quality of domestic weapons.
Exported weapons become future security assets that can be leased back to the station in case of an emergency on the Korean Peninsula and immediately deployed.
Overseas local production facilities for domestic weapons can also serve as a stable arsenal in the event of a war between the two Koreas.
This is the defense industry cooperation that every government is calling for.
Did you subtract our military share and give it to Poland first?
Let's take the example of the K2 tank exported to Poland first.
It is true that the plan is to send a part of K2 for our military supply to Poland, where the arsenal is empty by providing a large number of weapons to Ukraine first.
Our military unit where K2 will be deployed is not an empty-handed unit, but a unit that operates a fairly decent K1A2 tank.
An official from the Ministry of National Defense said, “Even if the K2 deployment is delayed by about five months due to the export to Poland, the K1A2 will be able to maintain sufficient power.”
The K2 export to Poland is actually a project launched during the Moon Jae-in administration.
At that time, the government even considered a plan to remove the K2 tank in use by our military and export it to Poland as a used one.
There is a security gap when exporting the weapons given to our military, but exporting K2 by extending the K1A2 operation period by several months like this time has nothing to do with the security gap.
It is known that the K9 and FA-50 are similar to K2, so they have enough room to go to Poland first.
The profits of Polish exports are substantial.
The deployment of 48 FA-50s to the Polish Air Force means planting the seeds of the Korean supersonic fighter KF-21 in Europe.
If only the Korean Air Force uses the KF-21, the cost of developing a fighter cannot be saved.
The South Korean military will also buy the KF-21 at a low price only when it is unconditionally exported in large quantities to realize economies of scale.
FA-50 adopting countries will have to contact the Korean Air Force and Korea Aerospace Industries KAI in the process of continuous logistics support in the future, which is an opportunity for unlimited marketing of the KF-21.
An executive from KAI said, “The export of the FA-50 is more meaningful than the present profit of increasing KAI’s sales, but of creating a future profit of increasing the possibility of exporting the KF-21.”
The defense industry in the United States and Europe also moves with the respective governments.
Weapons are a commodity of security, and the government intervenes and supports them.
So are we.
It is difficult to expect defense exports without government assistance.
Since we exported with the help of the government, defense companies will have to contribute more to national security.
Politicians should refrain from making frivolous accusations in light of these circumstances.