South Korea successfully concluded the first flight of the KF-21 Boramae, its first indigenous 4.5th generation fighter jet, on Wednesday (19 July). The aircraft took off from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) facility at Sacheon airbase at 3:40 p.m. and returned...
To read the full article, please log in or enter your email below:
South Korea successfully concluded the first flight of the KF-21 Boramae, its first indigenous 4.5th generation fighter jet, on Wednesday (19 July). The aircraft took off from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) facility at Sacheon airbase at 3:40 p.m. and returned there at 4:13 p.m for a total flight time of 33 minutes.
Flown by Major Ahn Jun-hyun, an officer of the Republic Of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) and KAI test pilot, Images and videos of its first flight showed the aircraft carrying four Meteor air-to-air missile mock-ups in the semi-recessed, under-belly mount points. According to a DAPA official, this was done to gauge the basic flight performance since the prototype has no special avionics and weapon control systems installed onboard.
The first KF-21 prototype will be followed by five others to conduct various flight and electronic tests, as well as weapon integration and testing until 2026. It is expected that the aircraft will enter mass production shortly after.
The first flight marked another milestone for the project which took almost seven years and cost US$6.67 billion to develop of which 18.8% of its development cost is shared by Indonesia. South Korea is planning to build 120 KF-21 for the ROKAF while Indonesia is said to acquire up to 50 of the Indonesian version of the aircraft.
Indonesia initially agreed to shoulder 20% of the KF-21 development cost when the country joined the project in 2014. However, after Indonesia failed to meet the deadline for its share of the payment in 2017, the Indonesian government requested renegotiation with South Korea in 2020 which resulted in the reduction of its share to 18.8%.
However, while Indonesia has reaffirmed its commitment and has allocated the funds to fulfill its obligation to the project in September 2021, it appears that it has yet materialized which raised concerns and protests from South Korean media and defense enthusiasts.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) has been named "2025 Airline of the Year" by Air Transport World (ATW) at the 51st…
Jet Aviation’s Singapore facility has been accredited as an authorised member of the Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ) Service Centre Network,…
The organisers of the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (Seoul ADEX) 2025 have announced changes to the event’s venue…
The Airbus-built CSO-3 Earth observation satellite has been launched successfully on Ariane 6’s first commercial flight from the European Spaceport…
The Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL) is exploring the potential acquisition of ITS Giuseppe Garibaldi (C 551), an Italian Navy (Marina Militare)…
The Trump administration has authorized a significant military transfer of weapon systems to Israel worth around US$3 billion, without a…
Vietnam has secured a US$680 million deal with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) for the purchase of two spy satellites. According…
U.S intelligence organizations are trying to confirm information about Iran receiving permission from Russia to assemble Su-35 and Su-30 fighter…
Baykar Technologies and Leonardo on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to form a Italy-based joint venture for the…
SkyFive and Akses Prima Indonesia (API) have announced a partnership to introduce an Air-to-Ground (A2G) inflight connectivity network in Indonesia,…
Deutsche Aircraft has appointed Patricia Ferrari as Vice President of Supply Chain. She will oversee the company’s supply chain operations,…
The European Defence Agency (EDA) has selected Schiebel’s CAMCOPTER S-100 for its “Autonomous Systems for Cross-Domain Logistics (Air and Land)”…
Italy’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams have received advanced radar technology from Camero-Tech to assist in locating survivors in…
The Air Astana Group has increased its fleet to 60 aircraft following the arrival of a new Airbus A320neo in…
Lockheed Martin’s LM 400 technology demonstration is scheduled to launch no earlier than 15 March aboard a Firefly Aerospace Alpha…
Fly Across MRO has joined Embraer’s Authorised Service Centre Network for Executive Jets, providing base maintenance services for the Phenom…
LCR Embedded Systems has introduced the DK3HS-4, a four-slot VPX development platform designed to support 100Gb data rates (25Gb per…
Dedienne Aerospace has renewed its CFM LEAP tooling licence with CFM International for a further 10 years. The agreement extends…
FLUX GmbH (FLUX) has announced a new 300mm size option for its IND-MAX range of inductive angle encoders, designed for…
Orbit Communication Systems Ltd. has launched the MPT30Ka Deployable SATCOM System, a portable satellite communication terminal designed for rapid deployment…
AAR CORP. has entered into an exclusive distribution and licence agreement with BELAC LLC, a subsidiary of Chromalloy, for Parts…
Boeing's X-66 Sustainable Flight Demonstrator has completed two initial wind tunnel tests using scale models, a necessary step before a…
Assac Networks, a subsidiary of Aspis Cyber Technologies Inc., has secured a contract with a government authority in Asia to…
The U.S. Army’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) has acquired a THeMIS Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) from Milrem…
Muirhead has introduced BioPRO Foam, a protein-based aviation biofoam that is naturally fire-resistant. The patented material is made using hydrolysed…
Korean Air has introduced a new corporate value system as it commemorates its 56th anniversary. The initiative, called "KE Way,"…
Lockheed Martin has announced that the global fleet of F-35 aircraft has accumulated more than 1 million flight hours. The…
Three MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters underwent Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) flights in January as part of efforts to…
BAE Systems and Hamek have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) by which they wili work together to support Norway’s…
Turkiye has offered Indonesia the opportunity to participate in the co-development and co-production of its domestically developed 5th-generation fighter jet,…
Headquartered in Singapore with reporters spread across all major regions, GBP Aerospace & Defence is a leading media house that publishes three publications that serve the aerospace and defence sector - Asian Defence Technology, Asian Airlines & Aerospace and Daily News. Known industry-wide for quality journalism, GBP Aerospace & Defence is present at more international tradeshows and exhibitions than any other competing publication in the region.
For over three decades, our award-winning team of reporters has been producing top-notch content to help readers stay abreast of the latest developements in the field of commercial aviation, MRO, defence, and Space.
Copyright 2024. GBP. All Rights Reserved.
Home Defence & Security Space Commercial Aviation Maintence Repair & Overhaul Daily News Events About Us
2025 GBP all rights reserved.