Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) rolled-out Friday the first prototype of its KF-X fighter, officially christened “KF-21 Boramae,” built under a 8.8 trillion-won (US$7.9 billion) project, South Korea’s most expensive defence project to date that began in 2015.
The KF-21 Boramae is scheduled to fly for the first time in 2022. KAI plans to build more prototypes and carry out flight tests from next year and to complete the development of the Block-1 system by June 2026, Yonhap news reported quoting officials.
Speaking at the roll-out ceremony, President Moon Jae-in said that the combat jet will go into full-fledged production as soon as it completes ground and air tests. “We plan to deploy 40 jets by 2028 and a total of 120 by 2032,” the president added.
Around 65 percent of its components are being made indigenously, including the active electronically scanned array (AESA) rada. In addition, the EW Suite (Integrated Electronic Warfare Equipment), IRST (infrared search and track) pod and EO TGP (electro optical targeting pod).