South Korea on Wednesday finalized its plan to purchase four in-flight tankers from overseas makers for operational deployment from 2017. The acquisition project is designed to improve the duration of the country’s flight operations.

At a top military decision-making committee, officials including Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin decided to announce the official bidding procedures in February next year and conclude negotiations with foreign firms within the year.

Airbus’ A-330, Boeing’s KC-767 and Israel’s restructured version of Boeing’s aircraft have been mentioned as potential candidates for the acquisition project thought to cost less than 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion).

The military has eyed refueling aircraft since the mid-1990s as its fighters can operate over vulnerable areas such as Dokdo for only half an hour. With refueling, combat aircraft could operate for another hour, officials said.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)