South Korea unlikely to finalize Lockheed F-35 order until summer '14

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By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - South Korea is unlikely to finalize any orders for the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighter jet until the summer or fall of 2014, after it redoes a complicated acquisition process, according to three sources familiar with the issue. South Korea's military chiefs last month said Seoul would buy 40 Lockheed F-35 fighters, with the first planes to be delivered in 2018, despite the fact the only Boeing Co's F-15 fighter met the competition's price target. Both Boeing and Eurofighter have said they remain willing to supply smaller numbers of jets to Seoul, if asked. The sources said the military chiefs' decision requires Seoul to redo part of its acquisition process and also take another look at the budget, which in turn will defer any move to finalize F-35 orders until the second half of 2014, months later than expected.




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