S.Korea to bid for 1 bln USD fighter jet project in Peru

South Korea plans to bid for a fighter jet purchase project in Peru, which is estimated to be at least 1 billion U.S. dollars in value, Yonhap News Agency reported Tuesday citing military sources.

The military is seeking to export 24 FA-50 fighter jets to Peru and planning to submit a letter of intent by the end of February.

The export value is estimated at 1 billion dollars, including jets and pilot training package. It may rise to 2 billion dollars when including follow-up logistics support, one military source was quoted as saying.

The FA-50 is South Korea's indigenous light attack aircraft, jointly developed by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and U.S.- based Lockheed Martin.

The single-engine jet is a variant of the country's homegrown T- 50 trainer airplane that was developed to replace outdated fighter jets operated by the South Korean Air Force.

The supersonic aircraft can carry a weapons load of up to 4.5 tons, including air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, and precision-guided weapons such as Joint Direct Attack Munitions ( JDAM) and Senor Fused Weapon (SFW).

The FA-50 is expected to compete with china's L-15, Russia's YAK-130 and Italy's M-346 light attack aircraft.

In November 2012, South Korea won a 200 million dollars auction from Peru, providing the Latin American nation with 20 units of KT- 1 basic trainer airplane.

South Korea exported 16 units of T-50 family aircraft to Indonesia in 2011, 24 units to Iraq in 2013 and three units to the Philippines in 2014. Endi