How South Korea's MMU KF-21 Made Its First Flight?

Background of the Project:

It was decided to produce a fifth-generation fighter aircraft in South Korea for the 2030s and beyond. After the KF-X aircraft reached sufficient maturity, it was foreseen that the KF-16 aircraft would be included in the inventory instead. In this context, the official process of the Korean Experimental Fighter KF-X (Korean Fighter Experimental) project was launched in 2015.

Prior to this, it has been talked about since 2002 that KAI, which had succeeded in developing and producing the T-50 (approximately Hürjet equivalent), an advanced military jet trainer, could also produce a national warplane. In the 2008s, KAI's production of a fifth generation fighter aircraft was seriously discussed.

Although the successful completion of such a fighter aircraft development and production project is considered to be risky in itself, and it is known that per-unit production costs will cost more than purchasing similar systems/components directly from foreign manufacturers, the Korean Government has stated that the development of the national defense industry is much more than the cost. He decided it was important.

Thus, with the KF-X, it was aimed to bring high technologies to the country and to bring the South Korean aerospace sector to a world-class place by creating a ripple effect on other industrial areas.

Project Launched in the Last Month of 2015:

In December 2015, the contract process for the KF-X project for the development of the KF-X fighter aircraft was completed between the South Korea Presidency of Defense Industries (DAPA-Defense Procurement Program Management) and KAI (Korea Aerospace Industry), which we can also call TAI of this country. The size of the contract budget was estimated at approximately $7.4 billion.

The KF-X was envisioned with two engines. It is planned that the development phase of this aircraft will be completed by 2026 and mass production of the first package will begin in 2028. South Korea has decided to cooperate with Indonesia as a program partner country. Thus, the two countries started to work together on the KF-X/IF-X program. In the first stage, the number of warplanes that the two countries will produce together was determined as 120.

To support the development and production process of the KF-X fighter jet at KAI, fighter jet procurement processes since the early 2000s were also considered within this scope.

In this context, Boeing-manufactured F-15K aircraft were included in the inventory in 2008 with a cost of $4.2 billion. In the same year, 21 more F-15K aircraft were purchased from Boeing for $2.4 billion. Boeing had a positive approach to the production of some of the F-15K orders included in this second package in South Korea within the framework of the business sharing to be realized with KAI. It has been decided that KAI will produce 40% of the parts to be used in the aircraft in South Korea and 20% of the final assembly will be carried out in the KAI facilities. Thus, although KAI has experience and knowledge in the F-16 aircraft, it has gained the final assembly capability in the F-15K fighter aircraft, which has a more complex and more advanced structure than this aircraft. Powered by this project, South Korea decided to switch to the KF-X program to produce stealth fighter jets.

F-35s Purchased and Integrated into the KF-X Program:

In line with the KF-X project, it was decided to supply Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets so that the South Korean aerospace industry could learn about stealth aircraft production and gain experience in this field.

In this context, on September 4, 2014, a contract covering the procurement of 40 F-35A JSF aircraft from Lockheed Martin at a cost of 7.3 trillion won (approximately $5.6 billion) was signed.

In 2018, South Korean pilots began flight training on F-35 aircraft. The first 12 F-35As were delivered in 2019. Within the scope of the program, the delivery of the remaining 28 F-35As to the South Korean Air Force (ROKAF) continues until the end of 2022. According to the plan, which continues without disruption, all aircraft will have been delivered by the end of 2022. Meanwhile, with an additional contract signed in 2021, the supply of 20 more F-35 aircraft for $3.4 billion is in planning.

Project Studies and Partnerships:

The Critical Design Review of the KF-X aircraft was successfully completed at the end of September 2019. A full scale mock-up of the aircraft was exhibited for the first time at the Seoul Defense and Aerospace Exhibition (ADEX) held between 15-20 October 2019.

Conceptual design requirements are that the aircraft has 50% more range than the F-16, 34% longer fuselage life, equipped with advanced electronic warfare capabilities and avionics, integrating AESA radar, having supersonic interception capability and being a multi-role aircraft. included in the design document.

It has been calculated that South Korea has 65% of the technology infrastructure that can produce a warplane with these features. It was envisaged that the missing technologies would be acquired through cooperation with other countries and the necessary systems would be produced together.

It was decided that the main contractor of the KF-21 project would be KAI. Indonesia's PT Dirgantara company and Lockheed Martin have been identified as KAI's project partners. First of all, it was decided to produce 6 KF-X prototypes (development aircraft) for flight tests. It is envisaged that the first prototype aircraft will be produced in July 2018 and the first flight will take place in July 2022.

It is planned that 20% of the project cost will be covered by KAI, and the remainder by the government. It was envisaged that Indonesia, which was decided to be a project partner as a result of the negotiations held in 2010, would purchase up to 48 aircraft and cover approximately 13% of the development cost of the project with a contribution of $1.3 billion. In terms of Indonesia, the development program of this aircraft is called IF-X, and it was finally decided to include the aircraft in the inventory of the Indonesian Air Force with the name F-33.

According to the news in various press organs in the 2010s, Turkey's involvement in the project as a partner with a 20% share came to the fore. However, due to Turkey's desire to have more say in the program than Korea offered, no agreement was reached in the end, so the steps towards Turkey's partnership could not be progressed and then completely cancelled.

In return for the purchased F-35 aircraft, Lockheed Martin was planned to provide the technologies found in approximately 25 F-35A aircraft to KAI as per the procurement contract. However, the US Government has decided that the four critical technologies that need to be delivered cannot be transferred to KAI by Lockheed Martin. These technologies were AESA, IRST (infrared search and track), electro-optical targeting pod (EO TGP) and RF jammer. Unable to overcome this blockade of the American Government, South Korea focused on producing these critical technologies domestically with its own means.

The ultimate version of the KF-X (later renamed the KF-21 Boramae), intended to be South Korea's "national and domestic" fighter jet, is intended to be a multi-role, fifth-generation stealth fighter jet. The steps of the project (Block-1, Block-2 and Final Version) were determined accordingly.

The first test flight was performed on 19 July 2022.

Production started in accordance with this plan, and the hangar roll-out of the first prototype was held on April 9, 2021 with a magnificent ceremony. The first test flight was successfully carried out on 19 July 2022, as of yesterday.

The KF-21, which took off with a load of 4 dummy METEOR type air-to-air missiles, was flown by Major Junhyeon Ahn, an officer at the South Korean Air Force Test and Evaluation Center. The aircraft, which took off at 15:40 local time from the Air Force military runway located near Sacheon (South Gyeongsang Province), where KAI is located, landed safely at 16:13 after a test flight of about half an hour. As it was the first flight, a maximum speed of 215 knots was reached in this flight, which was carried out with the landing gear down as a rule. According to the testimonies of the test pilot who spoke to the Korea Times, the acceleration of the plane on takeoff and its control in the air were very good. The plane's sitting position during landing was also normal.

The development flight tests are scheduled to be completed in four years and the development steps to be completed by mid-2026. It was calculated that a total of 2,200 sorties of test flights should be performed.

By 2028, at least 40 KF-21 fighter aircraft, identified as Block-1, are planned to be delivered to the South Korean Air Force with capabilities in the anti-prey role. It is envisaged that 80 Blok-2 aircraft, whose production will be completed by 2032, will be produced in the air-ground role. Ammunition transport/integration and firing tests are scheduled to begin in 2026. Thus, it was aimed to add 120 aircraft in total to the inventory.

The Target and Projected Costs of the KF-21 Program:

The KF-21 development program was intended to allow South Korea to freely integrate and use its own weapons and systems on this aircraft. South Korea, which has a fully integrated structure in the US arms industry, but calculates that one day it will not be supported by the Americans, aims to use its own production warplanes as much as possible without any restrictions (operational independence).

The total development budget of the 120 aircraft program was projected to be $8.5 billion. The mass production cost of 120 aircraft, which is expected to be realized between 2026 and 2032, was calculated as $8.8 billion. In addition, the 30-year maintenance-operation cost of these aircraft will be approximately $ 8 billion (9 trillion won).

According to the calculation in the research and feasibility study carried out by Jane's experts; If this KAI-Lockheed Martin joint production aircraft is sold at a unit price of $70-90 million, it is considered that a total of 220-676 KF-21 fighter jets can be sold abroad (South East Asia, Middle East, Latin America countries).

Lockheed Martin acts with the idea of ​​taking advantage of this cooperation environment it has captured in South Korea to expand into the Asia Pacific region. Lockheed Martin, which shared the sales revenues of a low-cost and competitively priced exportable aircraft with the T-50 co-production; It also foresees to benefit from the partnership of KAI and KF-X in this context in the long term. Calculating that the KF-X, which will be used instead of the F-16, will be an alternative aircraft not only for South Korea, but also for other Asia Pacific countries, Lockheed Martin said that in this way, besides the F-35, it will be able to share its sales revenues with KAI in this market and by mutual technology sharing. It acts by calculating that the South Korean market can maintain its dependence on it.

Specifications:

Length: 16.9 m (55 ft 5 in)

Wingspan: 11.2 m (36 ft 9 in)

Wing Area: 46.5 m2 (501 sq ft)

Height: 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in)

Curb Weight: 11,800 kg (26.015 lb)

Maximum Takeoff Weight: 25,400 kg (55,997 lb)

Hardpoints: 10 units

Engine:

The aircraft is designed with two engines. In accordance with the agreement reached between the US General Electric (GE) company and KAI in May 2016, it was decided to use GE's F414-GE-400 engines in the KF-X fighter aircraft. It was envisaged that a total of 44,000 pounds of power would be obtained with these engines, each of which gave 22,000 pounds of power. Under the agreement with GE, Hanwha Techwin has the right to manufacture most parts of this engine in South Korea under license with GE. At the same time, Hanwha Techwin gained access to capabilities to perform the final assembly, testing, maintenance and maintenance of the engine.

Triumph Group undertook the engine driveline.

AESA Radar:

As of April 22, 2016, the South Korean Government has decided that Hanwha Thales (now Hanwha Systems) will manufacture the AESA radar with Active Electronically Scanned Array. It was envisaged that the radar will be developed primarily for the KF-X aircraft. Hanwha Systems, which received technical support from Israel's Elta Systems company in this field, announced on 7 August 2020 that it produced the first version of the AESA radar designed for the KF-X. Also, LIG ​​Nex1 company, which made technical cooperation with Saab in the production of the radar, also provided support.

Complementary Systems:

The Infrared Target Tracking System (similar to IRST) was developed by Hanwha Systems using domestic technology infrastructure and the process of integrating it into the KF-21 Blok-1 prototype has begun. An integrated electronic warfare package specially produced for the KF-21 by LIG Nex1 was also developed. RF jammer was produced.

The US firm Texstars was led to manufacture the canopy of the aircraft and subsequently to conduct the bird strike tests with KAI.

A Martin-Baker jump chair (type Mk18) was used on the plane.

In addition, the Spanish CESA emergency braking system, United Technologies air conditioning system including cabin compression and cooling, Cobham missile launchers, communication antennas, external fuel tanks and oxygen system, Meggitt braking system, fire warning system, some flight indicator clocks and sensors, MBDA vision air-to-air missile METEOR, Elbit Systems terrain tracking/land avoidance systems, Curtiss-Wright flight test instrumentation (FTI) and flight test data acquisition system (DAS) were brought to the aircraft under contracts.

Weaponry:

The stand-off and precision strike capable cruise missile (the Turkish-made SOM equivalent) developed by South Korea and hypersonic missiles will also be integrated into the aircraft. It is aimed to add a large number of air-air and air-ground ammunition, including METEOR, to the ammunition family that will be used by the aircraft.

Conclusion:

The KF-X program is seen as a breaking point for South Korea, meaning it can enter the world of fighter jets and pursue a more independent path in this area in the future. The export of US fighter jets to South Korea will maintain its importance in the future. It can be said that South Korea, which acts with an export-based development/industrialization strategy, can make a big leap in the global military aircraft sector in the near future, and that such a leap is likely to be realized much faster if it can continue its cooperation with the USA, the leading country of world aviation. Thus, the biggest sign that South Korea, which has achieved the sales figure of 5 million vehicles in total with Hyundai and Kia in automobile production today, can show the same global success in the military aircraft market, was the first test flight of the KF-21, which was successfully carried out on 19 July.