The Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) recently shared pictures of the country’s next-generation fighter production process, commonly known as the KF-X.
According to KBS Television, a total of 6 experimental aircraft will be produced. The first has been completed and is preparing the final steps for the first test evaluation phase.
Defense Acquisition Program Administration and Korea Aerospace Industries Corporation have been developing a 5th generation fighter program since 2015, with the expectation of localizing 65% of spare parts during mass production, to be worthy of being the first fighter using domestic technology.
The domestic companies will provide important spare parts, such as Landing Gear, and successfully develop the state-of-the-art active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, a technology that the US refused to transfer. The flight environment simulator has also been successfully localized after 4 years.
The KF-X (Korean Fighter eXperimental) is Korea’s next-generation stealth fighter, combining elements of 5th generation fighter jets. According to the KAI group, KF-X fighter jets are one of the most important national projects to replace the current fighters of the air force, to meet the requirements of future battlefields.
KAI started developing the program in December 2015. The preliminary design was approved in 2018, and production began in February 2019.
KAI is also localizing the major aviation electronics part, and improving it with domestic technology. The flight control and mission computer – its brain, will be inserted into the KF-X for ground testing.
