<Anchor>



Our Air Force is introducing stealth fighter F-35 from the United States.

It has been two years since the acquisition of Unit 1 and only one year and three months since it was deployed, but it was confirmed as a result of SBS interview that the US has notified that it will improve its performance.

The cost is 300 billion won, exceeding the value of the three F-35s.



This is an exclusive report by Kim Tae-hoon, a national defense reporter.



<Reporter> In



March last year, two stealth fighter F-35s manufactured by Lockheed Martin of the United States were delivered to the Korean Air Force for the first time.



We have acquired more than 20 units so far, and 10 more units by the end of this year, with a total of 40 units.



It's been one year and three months since it has been electrified, that is, its actual deployment, and performance improvements are already being promoted.



An official from the radiation agency said, "Last year, the F-35 performance improvement notification came from the United States, and discussions are underway."



The primary performance improvement is the installation of four additional armament-related equipment, such as air-to-ship missiles, and upgrading avionics software in the mid to late 2020s.



The cost of performance improvement for 40s is 300 billion won, which is the value of 3-4 F-35s.



It is common to improve the performance of a fighter after operating it for at least a dozen years, but it is very unusual for a performance improvement plan to come out like this without flying a few times.



[Shin Jong-Woo/Responsible Analyst for Korea Defense Security Forum: The F-35 is a fighter that applies an evolutionary development method that steadily improves its performance from shipment to rejection.

This is the first case, and it seems to have to be carefully weighed as it requires a large budget.] Since



the second and third improvement cannot be performed without improving the performance this time, the Air Force and the Radiation Administration are considering responding by crying and eating mustard.



However, controversy is expected during the parliamentary budget review process.



There are voices that it is necessary to accurately weigh the performance improvement process and cost within the ruling party as well as the opposition party.



(Video coverage: Han Il-sang, CG: Son Ho-seok, video editing: Lee Seung-jin)