In this fortnightly online column, ADM journalist Corey Lee Bell covers defence news across Japan and the Republic of Korea.
Conflicting reasons behind Seoul’s Apache budget cut
South Korea has dramatically reduced its budget for acquiring Boeing Apache attack helicopters, with some reports saying the procurement has now been “effectively cancelled.”
The decision was made against the backdrop of growing questions about the survivability of the platform, with Korean reports noting that more than 75% of Russia’s deployable fleet of attack aircraft had been destroyed in the Russia-Ukraine.
The decision is likely to be of interest to defence officials in Canberra, with Australia scheduled to acquire 29 Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters by 2029.
However, reporting on the decision, South Korea have cited conflicting reasons for the budget cut, some of which are unrelated to the platform’s operational performance.
A key voice behind the push to reconsider the procurement was People Power Party’s (PPP) lawmaker and renowned defence journalist, Yoo Yong-won, who in October last year stated “In some quarters it is argued that it would better to use some of the money [from the Apache procurement] to acquire cutting edge capabilities such as drones.”
Yoo was later the driving force behind the supplementary budget, passed in the National Assembly on July 4 this year, that allocated only 300 million Won of the initial 10 billion Won proposed for the attack helicopter acquisition. Yoo noted that the Apache was no longer aligned with the nation’s recently restructured defence strategy, while advocating that the army “reflects on the lessons of the drone wars in the [Russia-]Ukraine Conflict.”
However, other potential reasons for the cancellation have since come to light.
According to a report by South Korea’s SBS News, Roh Sang-won, the former Defense Intelligence Command chief, may have been among the “quarters” calling for the redirection of the Apache budget.
There was no suggestion in the report of impropriety by IAI or other Israeli defence firms.
Other concerns unrelated to operational performance were ballooning costs and budget pressures. In an interview with Stars and Stripes, Yang Uk, a research fellow at the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies, claimed that gunships remain an important capability for South Korea, but noted “competition for a limited budget.”
Budget concerns were a key feature in last year’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) government audit, with DAPA’s Minister citing a need for “further financial considerations” after estimates claimed that the Apache acquisition would consume 70% of the army’s annual budget.
Other Korean military experts have question appraisals of the extent to which drones have transformed the nature of warfare, claiming that drones cannot replace manned platforms in all scenarios.
One expert intimated that the Apache may not be excluded from future procurements, stating that the Joint Chief of Staff may be considering new proposals for manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) that combine helicopters and UAVs, with contracts potentially open to a wider pool of international and domestic participants.
While US plans to retire some of its Apaches have been cited as a potential reason for the cancellation, the US Army is set to continue to utilise the platform into the 2070s upon implementing significant upgrades.
Australia’s AH-64E Apache have also been touted to provide “crewed-uncrewed teaming capability, enabling networked integration with Australian Defence Force and Coalition uncrewed aerial systems.”