P. M. BRIEFING : GE Wins Korean Fighter Project
General Electric Co. says it has won a $500-million contract to build fighter plane engines for the government of South Korea.
The Koreans plan to buy about 250 F404-GE-402 engines to power 120 FA-18 fighters, a plane built by McDonnell Douglas, GE announced. The governments of Kuwait and Switzerland have purchased smaller numbers of the engine.
“These foreign sales are important because they help offset potential reductions in the U.S. defense budget,” said Robert Turnbull, GE’s vice president of military engines.
Turnbull estimated that the plant in Lynn, which will handle the South Korean order, will be building 200 F404 engines a year for the next 10 years. He said it was likely the U.S. Navy would scale back its purchases in the early 1990s.
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