ADEX 2025: South Korea awards contract for AEW&C fleet

At ADEX 2025, KAL-ASD displayed a model of a new AEW&C aircraft bound for the Republic of Korea Air Force. The service expects to induct a fleet of four aircraft by 2032–33. (Janes/Akhil Kadidal)

South Korea has awarded an L3Harris Technologies-led consortium, which includes Korean Air Aerospace Division (KAL-ASD), Bombardier, and Israel Aerospace Industries' (IAI's) Elta Systems, a USD2.26 billion contract to provide the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) with four airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft.

The announcement of the contract on 20 October during the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (ADEX) 2025, which is held from 17 to 24 October, comes nearly a month after South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) announced that L3Harris had been selected to meet the country's requirement for a new AEW&C aircraft.

Of the four aircraft to be produced, KAL-ASD will actively participate in the modification of the third and fourth aircraft, a KAL-ASD source told Janes .

Janes understands that KAL-ASD's participation in aircraft three and four will entail modifications, integration of equipment, testing, and ensuring that the aircraft receive their airworthiness certification. Prior to this, KAL-ASD engineers will be embedded with L3Harris and Elta during the building of aircraft one and two to enhance their knowledge of the platform, the source said.

The RoKAF is expected to have all four aircraft in service by 2032–33, according to KAL-ASD.

Based on the Bombardier Global 6500 airframe, the South Korean platforms will be equipped with Elta's ELW-2085 multiband radar, according to DAPA. L3Harris previously said that its proposal for the RoKAF, which the company previously dubbed as ‘Phoenix', integrates a “modular open systems approach (MOSA)” digital backbone that enables upgrades to tackle updated threats.