The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Friday that it "respects the results of the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP) announced by the Canadian government," adding, "Given that the government and companies prepared and responded with their utmost effort, we find it very regrettable that this result did not lead to the outcome we had hoped for."
"The fact that South Korea, which once introduced submarine technology from Germany, competed on equal terms with a submarine pioneer nation across all technical capabilities including performance and delivery schedule, is a meaningful achievement that demonstrates the rapid growth of our defense technology," DAPA said. "Although we could not overcome the disadvantage in strategic conditions, we will not leave the experience of this project as mere failure and frustration, but will turn it into a valuable lesson for our leap toward becoming one of the top four defense powers."
During this competition, the Dosan Ahn Chang-ho submarine proved its long-range voyage capability crossing the Pacific Ocean to Canada, as well as its operational sustainability and stability. This is assessed to have served as an occasion to imprint the capabilities of Korea's defense industry not only on Canada but also on the global defense market.
To overcome the strategic disadvantage, DAPA said, "We will work to secure a technology gap by rapidly pursuing a major transformation toward defense artificial intelligence (AI)," adding, "We will do our best to firmly enter major defense markets through a groundbreaking localization strategy, and we will further develop the cooperative relationship with Canada formed through this process."
DAPA Commissioner Lee Yong-cheol said, "This CPSP bidding process was a meaningful occasion to confirm the technological capabilities of Korean submarines and the potential of Korea-Canada defense cooperation." He added, "DAPA will use the experience and lessons accumulated during this competition as a springboard for a leap forward, further developing our large-scale defense export strategy going forward and strengthening support at the whole-of-government level."
