A trio of South Korean companies have made a significant, multibillion-dollar pitch to Canada, promising to quickly replace the navy's aging submarines, deliver more firepower to the army and help revitalize the country's defence industrial base.
The companies have the full backing of the South Korean government, which is eager to expand the defence and security partnership it signed with former prime minister Justin Trudeau two years ago in Seoul.
Hanwha Ocean and Hyundai Heavy Industries submitted a detailed, joint presentation worth $20 billion to $24 billion, promising to deliver the first four submarines by 2035, the current Royal Canadian Navy deadline to receive just one new boat. It has also pitched building maintenance facilities in this country which would employ Canadians.
Hanwha Aerospace, a sister company to the shipyard, has separately put down two detailed proposals to re-equip the army with big, mobile howitzers and rocket-propelled artillery, similar to the U.S.-made HIMAR system. It has also proposed a bigger package of armoured vehicles to fill the gaps the army has in tracked fighting vehicles and defence.
Those pitches are worth more than $1 billion, depending on what the Canadian government chooses and come with rapid delivery times and the possibility of setting up maintenance — and potentially manufacturing — centres, South Korean defence officials said.
While it did not submit a full unsolicited proposal, Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) has expressed interest in selling Canada its F-50 fighter aircraft as a training jet that could be quickly converted into a combat aircraft.
Posted by John3262005
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South Korea is the real Arsenal of Democracy these days