South Korea appears poised to scrap a plan to obtain 36 additional Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters.
Local media reports cite Yoo Yong-won of the opposition People Power Party as saying that the budget for the acquisition has been sharply cut.
Yoo says that that South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff decided to conduct a formal review of the possible acquisition in May.
Instead, South Korea’s armed forces aim to focus on unmanned air vehicles.
In August 2024 the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency cleared the possible sale of 36 AH-64Es for $3.5 billion.
This followed an April 2021 announcement by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration that W3.2 trillion ($2.3 billion) had been earmarked for a new attack helicopter, a follow-on acquisition from the 36 AH-64Es acquired between 2012 and 2021.
The new helicopters were to replace legacy Bell AH-1S Cobras in South Korean army service.
