S. Korea to swap sub for planes

The South Korean government has said it is willing to trade a submarine for a number of Indonesian-made medium transporter aircraft, an aircraft manufacturer spokesman said Friday.

"South Korea will buy 19 CN-235 medium transporters from Indonesia if the Indonesian Navy is willing to a buy a South Korean submarine," PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI) corporate secretary Mochtar Sharief was quoted as saying by Antara news agency.

"South Korea has guaranteed the purchase will be carried out this year. Otherwise, they will buy the airplanes from Spanish aircraft maker CASA."

The CN-235 was jointly developed by Indonesia and Spain and is widely used by a number of foreign operators and countries, including the U.S. Coast Guard, Malaysia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.

South Korea has previously purchased a number of CN-235s for VIP and transport units in a trade deal with Indonesia, which bought a squadron of KT-1 Wong Bee trainer planes.

Mochtar said the company expected to soon seal a deal selling 20 planes to a number of Mideast countries.

Meanwhile, Thailand will buy one CN-235 for cloud seeding and nine smaller NC-212 Aviocar planes for the Thai military.

Also on Friday, PT DI delivered a NBO-105 helicopter to the Navy to fulfill a contract agreement signed in August 2006.

"We will deliver a NC-212 MPA surveillance airplane to the Navy next week," PT DI's production director Budi Wuraskito was quoted as saying by Antara.

PT DI will also soon deliver a standard NC-212 airplane and two NBO-105 helicopters to the Army.

Rear Adm. Yoedoko, assistant to the Navy's chief of staff for logistics affairs, said the Navy would need 137 airplanes over the next 25 years, to be produced locally and procured mainly from Poland and Russia.

First published on The Jakarta Post on Saturday, March 3, 2007