For 'NITRO104' interest in South Korean F-35 situation:
http://www.pprune.org/military-aircr...ml#post8133223
S.Korea would get F-35s with full combat capability -Pentagon 07 Nov 2013 Andrea Shalal-Esa
"Nov 7 (Reuters) - If South Korea decides to order Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets for delivery in 2017, the aircraft would come with the software needed to carry a full load of weapons, Lockheed and the Pentagon's F-35 program office said Thursday, refuting a claim made earlier this week by a Boeing consultant....
...officials with Lockheed and the F-35 program office told Reuters the 3F software would be released to the F-35 fleet in the third quarter of 2017. That would allow the jet to achieve its full combat capability and carry a full load of weapons in time for the delivery schedule that South Korea is seeking, they said.
Lockheed planned an initial release of the 3F software for developmental flight testing in September 2014, said company spokesman Eric Schnaible.
South Korea has said it needs delivery of the first new fighter jets in 2017 so it can start replacing its aging current fleet of warplanes. To ensure delivery in 2017, Seoul would have to place initial orders of F-35 jets in the ninth batch of jets, which is expected to carry the 3F software.
"If (the South Koreans) decide to procure F-35s, then aircraft ordered in lot 9 or later will be configured with 3F software," said Rear Admiral Randy Mahr, deputy F-35 program manager, in a statement responding to a Reuters query....
...He [Mahr] said there was "some risk" in the current schedule for completion of the 3F software, since it depended to some extent on the success of the 2B software, and the 3I export version....
...One defense official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said both the Marine Corps and Air Force had clearly decided that the F-35 offered so many additional capabilities that they were moving ahead with the 2B software rather than wait for completion of the later software.
"I'd rather go across the line with the 2B software in the fifth-generation F-35 than an advanced version of the fourth generation fighters out there today," said the official."
S.Korea would get F-35s with full combat capability -Pentagon | Reuters