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Dozens of SKorean jets grounded over safety concerns
Seoul (AFP) Oct 24, 2007 South Korea's air defences against North Korea are being weakened because dozens of fighter jets were grounded this year due to maintenance and safety concerns, a legislator said Wednesday. "Although the air force had to maintain a higher level of combat-readiness since North Korea's (October 2006) nuclear test, it keeps half of its main fighter jets in warehouses," said Maeng Hyung-Gyu of the opposition Grand National Party. "There should not be loopholes in defending the country's airspace due to maintenance problems," Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying. In a report to Maeng for an ongoing parliamentary audit, the air force said only 60 percent of about 130 KF-16 jets were engaged in normal operations during the first eight months of this year. Dozens of KF-16s were grounded to check for possible engine problems after one of them crashed in February due to poor maintenance. As for advanced F-15K jets, only 70 percent of them were in service, according to Maeng. Each KF-16, a local variant of the F-16, costs around 40 billion won (43 million dollars). US engine maker Pratt and Whitney, which supplied the KF-16's engines, advised the air force to replace a defective part but mechanics ignored it, an air force internal probe concluded. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links The latest in Military Technology for the 21st century at SpaceWar.com
Outside View: The case for Land Warrior
Arlington, Va. (UPI) Oct 23, 2007 Over the past three years the U.S. Army generally has done an impressive job at getting troops in Iraq and Afghanistan the equipment they need to fight a new kind of war. |
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