Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Saved 64 billion won by transforming military products into commercial ones

Maximized management efficiency by widening the range of commercialization
Procured 165 best commercialized items
Holding delivery sessions for enterprises twice a year
Plans to carry out promotion of commercialized items use

Introduced cases of trial commercial products being used at the briefing session for enterprises
- digital welding machine, eco-friendly vegetated soil bag retaining wall, functional mask

The Ministry of National Defense has reduced the military budget for this year by 64 billion won by widening the rage of commercialization of excellent private products into military ones.

On December 15, the MND said “We have abolished the national defense standard for 165 items to be commercialized, which have been identified by the army, navy, and air force and the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality, etc, and are determined to procure them with commercial items. This expansion of commercialized military items has improved quality and achieved the outcome of more efficient use of the military budget.”

Unlike Korean Standard (KS) and International Standard Organization (ISO), etc., the national defense standardized products are procured based on a specialized standard for the military operation environment. Commercialized products are items which are manufactured and distributed for civil use, that have been selected and used as military products by the military.

The MND has introduced outstanding products of private enterprises this year and promoted their commercialization. As a result, 64 billion won in total has been saved, including 61 billion won for the purchase of commercial vehicles and 3 billion won for transition of general items that include service support supplies and equipment.. The military budget could be significantly reduced by using commercial items, called ‘Saje (privately made ones),' instead of military products that are more expensive due to their smaller production amount.

The MND is devoting to continuing this achievement. As part of this process, the military has promoted the military introduction of excellent private products with new technology applied, and is holding a 'briefing session for enterprises' on a regular basis, twice a year, to improve fairness and transparency in the delivery of military supplies. The sessions were held in February and July of this year.

The MND reflects the results of an evaluation by a civil-military experts council and the demands of each military, and selects 49 items out of 81 for demonstrative use during the session. Selected products are subject to an applicability evaluation by some units.

The MND is now receiving applications for the briefing session for enterprises through the website, www.mnd.go.kr . As well, the MND is planning to establish and carry out phased-implementation to promote the use of commercial products from the acquisition stage to operate the military economically. In this way, the MND is working to select a research service company to set a desired target for the application of commercial products after analysing R&D cases of weapon systems to review the differences between applicable commercial products and the actual application rate.

As the MND established an implementation plan to promote the expansion of commercialization based on cases studies of R&D in stage of acquisition and advanced institutionalized cases, they are expecting to make a significant contribution to military economic operation by reducing the total life cycle cost while improving compatibility and interoperability, as well as managing parts that are no longer available.

The Total Life Cycle System Management means the management of performance, cost, technology, information, etc. in terms of all the integration points during the total life cycle process from requirement decision, acquisition and operation to disposal.

An MND spokesperson said, “Based on this year’s commercialization performance of the military products, we will expand the range of application of commercial products at the acquisition and operation maintenance stage in 2017 to vitalize the introduction of good products. We will maximize the efficiency of the military budget and military supplies management.”

By Byeong-No, Yun < trylover@dema.mil.kr >
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