SEOUL - South Korea and the U.S. will sign an agreement this week to broaden cooperation on arms development, the South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) here said Nov. 3.
The Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) agreement will be signed by DAPA Commissioner Byun Moo-keun and Ashton Carter, U.S. undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, Nov. 5 in Washington, the agency said in a news release.
Byun will embark on a five-day trip Nov. 4 to the U.S. capital to attend the annual Defense Technological & Industrial Cooperation Committee (DTICC), it said. DTICC is a subcommittee of the Security Consultative Meeting, the annual talks between the defense ministers from South Korea and the United States.
The RDT&E is an umbrella memorandum of understanding related to a 1996 agreement between the two governments on joint arms research-and-development efforts, the release said.
Under the RDT&E, however, both sides will be able to engage in higher levels of weapon development programs, including test and evaluation, and full-scale arms development, it said.
During his stay in Washington, Byun will visit the Defense Technology Security Administration to discuss ways of easing U.S. restrictions on exporting key weapon systems and technologies to South Korea, the release said.
The Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program is ready to test a few components that soldiers may have in their hands by 2010.
Help
