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The article focuses on disagreement between the U.S. Air Force and the aerospace company BAE Systems over upgradation of F-16 fighter planes for South Korea. It mentions that South Korea expressed frustration over U.S. insistence on higher price as pricing was important for the choice of BAE over the aerospace firm Lockheed Martin. Also presented are views of Pentagon spokesman Joe Sowers on efforts made to develop security cooperation solutions that support mutual interest of both countries.

The article discusses the decision of South Korea to reverse its own procurement authority's choice of the Boeing F-15SE Silent Eagle for its 60-aircraft F-X Phase 9 project in 2013. The government prefers the Lockheed Martin F-35, which was rejected by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) because it was too costly. The F-15SE was chosen because it met the budget of 8.3 trillion won that had been agreed by the finance ministry.

The article looks at Japan's decision to purchase the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) for its fighter program and examines the possibility that other countries, especially South Korea, will also purchase the F-35 based on this decision. A Japanese newspaper says that the F-35 was chosen due to its stealth and information-networking capabilites. Orders for the F-35 from Japan and South Korea would allow Lockheed Martin to produce larger batches of planes, reducing unit costs.