Korea recently introduced the new KF-21 Boramae 4.5th generation fighter prototype, the KAI KF-X project.
The Drive said, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) Corporation of Korea has introduced the prototype of the 4 ++ KF-21 Boramae fighter (in Korean means “hawk”), previously is called KF-X. The corresponding video on YouTube was posted by the Korean Military Channel.
Previously, in September 2020, the Korea Defense Development Agency reported that the KAI Group had begun assembling the KF-X multi-role fighter.
By 2022, the KF-21 Boramae will take off in the air for the first time. Work on developing the original fighter version will be completed by 2026. By 2028, the Korean Air Force plans to receive 40 KF-21 Boramae aircraft. By 2032, the number of KF-21 Boramae aircraft will reach 120.
The new KF-21 Boramae aircraft will replace the aging American fighters from the Cold War era, the F-4E Phantom II and F-5E / F Tiger II and complement the 5th generation stealth fighter. -35 Lightning II, 4th generation fighter F-15K Slam Eagle and F-16C / D.
The cost of the manufacturing program KF-21 Boramae is 7.9 billion USD, of which 20% is paid by Indonesia.
According to publicly available sources, the KF-X belongs to the class of 4 ++ generation fighters. This fighter has a speed of Mach 1.8, can carry up to 7.7 tons of weapons and has a flight range (without refueling) up to 2.9 thousand km.
It is reported that Korea will produce 65% of the KF-21 Boramae components, including avionics, control systems and radars.
In addition, Seoul holds hopes on 25 key technologies from the F-35 Lightning II project that US conglomerate Lockheed Martin promises to transfer. However, it is possible that the US will only transfer 21 out of 25 advanced technologies, the remaining 4 technologies, and Korea will have to research and develop on its own.
It is known that each fighter will be equipped with a pair of US General Electric F414-GE-400K engines, the engine currently installed on many types of aircraft in the world such as Boeing F / A- 18E / F Super Hornet (United States); HAL Tejas Mk2 and HAL AMCA (India); Saab JAS 39E / F Gripen (Sweden).
The Drive writes that, with two advanced fighter development projects (previously the FA-50 – KAI T-50 Golden Eagle program), Korea has outlined a roadmap to 2030 to become a nation. has the seventh largest aviation industry in the world.