As the Korean government presses ahead with its plan to complete the selection of a new fighter jet model for the Air Force by October, questions are being raised about the wisdom of rushing the multibillion-dollar procurement project.

Critics are urging the government to halt the process and leave it to the next government, noting that it is unwise for an outgoing government to try to handle an issue that would take so much time to sort out.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration said it has received proposals for Korea’s FX-III fighter jet program from three firms ― Boeing and Lockheed Martin of the United States and EADS of Europe.

The program is about acquiring 60 state-of-the-art fighter aircraft at an estimated cost of 8.3 trillion won ($7.2 billion), the largest ever single weapons procurement plan promoted by Korea. The total project cost exceeds 10 trillion won if operation and maintenance expenses are included.

DAPA will choose from among three candidates ― Boeing’s F-15 Silent Eagle, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 and EADS’ Eurofighter Typhoon. The selected aircraft is to be delivered to Korea from 2016 to 2021.

The military procurement agency said it would soon form a team of military and civilian experts to assess the proposals and conduct tests on the candidate jets.

Evaluations will be made based on some 150 criteria in four main categories ― cost, ability to meet operational requirements, interoperability, and economic and technological benefits.

DAPA has set a tight deadline for performance evaluations and contract negotiations ― it plans to complete on-site tests by September and wrap up negotiations on price and other contract terms by October.

Critics note that four months is definitely not enough to conduct the full range of tests on sophisticated aircraft. As a result, they warn, the government could make an ill-advised decision.

DAPA officials say the October deadline could be pushed back. The deadline, they say, is their target and they need a target date because it helps them maximize their bargaining power.

They also justify their schedule by saying that now is the right time to make a procurement decision. They note that the global fighter aircraft market is currently a buyer’s market as demand has been slack for years.

More importantly, they want a procurement decision to be made during the term of the incumbent government because otherwise, the FX-III program could be delayed by at least two more years due to the change of government following the December presidential election.

DAPA officials argue that the Air Force can ill afford to wait another two years because it faces an urgent need to retire its aging F-4 and F-5 jets, which were introduced in the 1960s and 1970s. The Air Force says retirement is long overdue for more than 100 of its 460 fighter jets.

These reasons, however, fall short of justifying DAPA’s hurried push. Notwithstanding the agency’s arguments to the contrary, the October deadline could weaken its bargaining position. Under a tight schedule, the agency may find it difficult to squeeze maximum concessions out of the bidders regarding price and other contract terms.

The October deadline also makes it impossible for Korean pilots to test-fly the F-35, which is widely touted as the next-generation fighter plane of choice for the U.S. and many of its allies.

As the strike fighter is a single-seat platform, Lockheed Martin does not allow an untrained pilot to fly it alone. DAPA’s tight schedule does not offer time to train a Korean pilot for a test flight. Hence for the F-35, testing will be done solely using simulators, a situation not acceptable to many Korean experts.

DAPA needs to be prudent in making a choice among the three models because it involves many issues, not least technology transfer as Korea seeks to develop its own fighter jet. If it rushes the project, it would fuel suspicions that it has had a certain model in mind from the beginning.

The agency can learn lessons from the FX-II program a decade ago. Korea chose Boeing’s F-15K as its next-generation fighter jet but experienced a serious shortage of spare parts. The Air Force had to cannibalize some F-15K jets to obtain necessary parts and keep other jets flying.