Korea KF-X/ IF-X (KF-21) program

[Bürküt]

Thats a tactival DATA-LINK, the reason why LM didn't provide you with LINK-16 is because of Indonesian particpation. Link-16 is only for NATO members avaible, it is like France selling frigatte for Egyptian navy with out LINK systems, they have the monkey version.

Korea is also not a NATO member

 

[urban mine]

Thats a tactival DATA-LINK, the reason why LM didn't provide you with LINK-16 is because of Indonesian particpation. Link-16 is only for NATO members avaible, it is like France selling frigatte for Egyptian navy with out LINK systems, they have the monkey version.

Hey, even on the SDT website it says ACMI, simulation. Not TDL... Also, the KF-21 uses LINK-16. I know LINK-16 is not provided by LM. There is an international organization (MIDS IPO) that deals with LINK-16.

 

[urban mine]

Korea is also not a NATO member

That's right, this is an old list, and it includes Finland, which just joined yesterday, haha.

 

[Oublious]

Korea is also not a NATO member

But when it comes to SK they don't care, as i mentioned the reason why they didn't gived the LINK-16 is because of Indonesia.

 

[Umigami]

But when it comes to SK they don't care, as i mentioned the reason why they didn't gived the LINK-16 is because of Indonesia.

Indonesia is link 16 user

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1230154691520139265

use Auto translate for this Video. Indonesian F16 used Link 16 during Exercise Pitch Black.

 

[Oublious]

Indonesia is link 16 user

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1230154691520139265

use Auto translate for this Video. Indonesian F16 used Link 16 during Exercise Pitch Black.

You made a end user agreement for only using it with F16 probably only with American weapons. But when it comes to design a fighter other level difficulties arise. Like the radar a sensetive technology what they don't want to share with you. Americans allows you when you buy ther weapoins.

 

[Chocopie]

Is this true?
@Windchime @urban mine @Chocopie ?

That Turkish twitter guy is a total dickhead blinded by uber-nationalism.

LIGNex1 selected SDT ETU datalinks for the Embedded Training System integration because of its cost-efficient and quality hardware. Tactical datalink system for KF-21 will be indigenous afaik (Link-16, Link-22).

The main question is: Why in hell would Türkiye deny any theoretical sub-system export license for KF-21? Unlikely competition reasons, TFX and KF-21 fulfill different roles.

Think of all the license-built Korean defense tech that could be blocked in retaliation against Turkish MIC. Not to speak of losing a longtime trusted and friendly partner like ROK, with many civilian business projects and future investments in Türkiye. Would be damned stupid IMO.

 

[Sanchez]

I doubt KAI has any real fear of a Turkish export ban for KF-21, unless it's to I dunno, Syria or something. If they can keep the costs of the local one low, they would surely replace the Turkish ETU links with Korean homegrown ones, why wouldn't they?

 

[Oublious]

That Turkish twitter guy is a total dickhead blinded by uber-nationalism.

LIGNex1 selected SDT ETU datalinks for the Embedded Training System integration because of its cost-efficient and quality hardware. Tactical datalink system for KF-21 will be indigenous afaik (Link-16, Link-22).

The main question is: Why in hell would Türkiye deny any theoretical sub-system export license for KF-21? Unlikely competition reasons, TFX and KF-21 fulfill different roles.

Think of all the license-built Korean defense tech that could be blocked in retaliation against Turkish MIC. Not to speak of losing a longtime trusted and friendly partner like ROK, with many civilian business projects and future investments in Türkiye. Would be damned stupid IMO.

That account do everyhting to reach more tweets.

 

[Chocopie]

The jokes of turning the Indonesian flag upside down might come true ...

Add the KF-21 Boramae to Poland’s South Korea Shopping Wish-List​

May 10, 2023 - by Daniel Darling

In what would prove to be yet another step in the process towards deepening Poland-South Korea defense ties, the Polish government is looking to join South Korea’s KF-21 Boramae combat aircraft program.

Spearheaded by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the KF-21 is being touted by Seoul as a 4.5-generation combat aircraft with high-end avionics systems.

The first full prototype of the new twin-engine multirole fighter was rolled out by KAI in a ceremony on April 9, 2021. First flight of this prototype successfully occurred on July 19, 2022. The initial flight of the first two-seat model – the fourth prototype built – followed on February 20.

Polish defense officials have indicated in the past year that they would be interested in procuring the still-in-development fighter and are targeting 2026 as the point they would want to join the program. By February 2026, the South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) intends to launch series production of Block 1 units.

If Poland goes ahead with delivery of a Letter of Intent (LOI) to jointly develop and procure the fighter, the move will benefit both parties.

For Warsaw, the opportunity to join a fighter development project – even at the latest stage (right as South Korea would be moving into the Block 2 variant stage of the program) – would benefit its defense-aerospace industrial sector with technical know-how and an opportunity for workshare. Polish defense consortium PGZ is expected to be the principal mover in this process.

Additionally, Poland would begin absorbing an advanced fourth-generation fighter that could complement – or, more likely, eventually replace – the Polish Air Force fleet of 48 F-16C/D Block 52+s ordered in 2003 from Lockheed Martin.

On the South Korean side, a deal would cement its burgeoning defense trade and cooperation relationship with Poland and enable it to continue making inroads into the European market.

Poland and South Korea reached a massive arms agreement in July 2022 that involves 180 Korean-designed K2 Black Panther tanks, 212 K9 “Thunder” self-propelled howitzers, and 48 FA-50 Golden Eagle light fighters. That sales bundle enabled South Korean defense export orders to reach $15 billion in 2022, more than double the $7.2 billion figure from the previous year.

More importantly for South Korea, bringing Poland into the program would provide more scale to its fighter program and a more reliable financial partner than current co-developer of the KF-21, Indonesia, has so far proven to be.

Under the joint-development arrangement reached between South Korea and Indonesia on January 7, 2016, the Indonesian side pledged to invest 20 percent of the estimated total $6.2-$6.8 billion in developmental costs, or $1.24-$1.36 billion through 2028.

However, by September 2022 Jakarta had only provided around KRW227 billion ($185 million) of that total, with Indonesia failing to make good on a payment of $124.5 million due at the end of 2017.

After six meetings regarding back payments owed by Indonesia, Seoul and Jakarta were finally able to break the impasse over development costs. The participants agreed to keep Indonesia’s existing 20 percent cost-sharing contribution in place (while bringing forward the final target date by which to reach this total to 2026), with the caveat that 30 percent of this total will be provided through contribution “in kind.”

Unlike Indonesia, however, Poland is on a defense spending buildup that shows no signs of slowing down. Since the launching of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Polish government has increased the baseline defense budget in order to accelerate the modernization of its armed forces, and is now seeking to bring its topline budget up to 4 percent of GDP in 2023, which would then grow to as high as 5 percent of GDP.

Should Poland and South Korea reach an agreement on the KF-21 program, questions would then emerge regarding how many KF-21 fighters Poland would seek to procure, what kind of industrial participation it would receive, and how this might impact Indonesia’s own technical sharing and licensed production ambitions (about 50 KF-21s, or enough to equip three Indonesian National Defense-Air Force (TNI-AU) fighter squadrons of 16-22 aircraft apiece).

Add the KF-21 Boramae to Poland's South Korea Shopping Wish-List - Defense Security Monitor

In what would prove to be yet another step in the process toward deepening Poland-South Korea defense ties, the Polish government is looking to join South Korea’s KF-21 Boramae combat …

dsm.forecastinternational.com

 

[Chocopie]

Moment of truth in June ... ​

Indonesia to provide S. Korea with new payment schedule for joint fighter project in June: DAPA chief​

SACHEON, South Korea, May 10 (Yonhap) -- Indonesia will provide South Korea with a new timetable for its payments for the joint KF-21 fighter project by late next month, the head of Seoul's state arms procurement agency has said, in a development expected to ease concerns over its unpaid share of the program's costs.

Eom Dong-hwan, minister of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), told reporters of the plan Tuesday, as Indonesia resumed payments for the project last November for the first time in nearly four years.

As a partner country, Indonesia has agreed to shoulder about 20 percent of the project's total cost of 8.8 trillion won (US$6.5 billion). But it had halted payments from January 2019 until its resumption last November, raising questions over its commitment to the advanced warplane development project launched in 2015.

The country is estimated to have over 800 billion won in unpaid amount for the project scheduled for initial completion by 2026.

A prototype of the KF-21 fighter jet under development bearing the flags of South Korea and Indonesia moves out of a hangar at the headquarters of Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. in Sacheon, 437 kilometers south of Seoul, on May 9, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

"(Indonesia) has promised to notify South Korea of its payment plan for the remaining amount by late June," Eom said during a media event at the headquarters of Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI), the country's sole aircraft maker, in Sacheon, 437 kilometers south of Seoul.

"In order to ensure the payment plan proceeds normally next month, our project chief is scheduled to visit Indonesia soon for talks with high-level defense officials on its details," he added.

Eom acknowledged the financial burden Indonesia is likely to face considering the project's deadline, but noted that the country made a payment of around 40 billion won in late February.

"We plan to manage such issues so that it does not disrupt the KF-21's development," he said.

Meanwhile, KAI CEO Kang Goo-young said the company is on track to deliver the first batch of FA-50 light attack aircraft to Poland, with a roll-out ceremony for the first model to be held on June 7.

KAI signed a deal last year to supply 48 FA-50s to the country amid Warsaw's efforts to replace its aging warplanes in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"The first and second FA-50s will be sent in late July so that they can be assembled in Poland in early August and be able to conduct flights from mid-August," he said.

Under the deal, KAI will deliver 12 FA-50 "gap filler" models to the country by the end of this year and 36 FA-50 PL models, equipped with the advanced active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and other upgrades, from 2025 to 2028.

This photo shows a prototype of the KF-21 fighter jet under development at the headquarters of Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. in Sacheon, 437 kilometers south of Seoul, on May 9, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

During Tuesday's event, reporters were given close looks at KAI's fighter jets, including a demonstration of a KF-21 prototype being equipped with mock air-to-air missiles.

A group of engineers swiftly fastened two dummy air-to-air missiles -- a beyond-visual-range Meteor and a short-range AIM-2000 -- on prototype No. 1 parked at a hangar just minutes away from the company's assembly lines.

Since the KF-21's maiden flight in July last year, South Korea has staged over 200 test flights with four prototypes and the aircraft has achieved supersonic speeds and has staged armament tests.

"Guided launches (for the missiles) are scheduled to take place in the second half of 2025," Cha Myung-su, a senior test pilot at KAI, told reporters.

The fifth KF-21 prototype will make its first flight next week and the sixth one by the end of next month, according to KAI officials.

DAPA plans to stage some 2,000 test flights in total with the six prototypes by 2026.

On the back of the steady progress, DAPA seeks to sign a mass production contract for the aircraft next year, with Eom vowing to swiftly complete a "provisional" combat suitability test for the aircraft as part of efforts to finalize the mass production plan.

Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI) workers equip a mock AIM-2000 air-to-air missile on the wing of a KF-21 prototype at a hangar in the company's headquarters in Sacheon, 437 kilometers south of Seoul, on May 9, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Indonesia to provide S. Korea with new payment schedule for joint fighter project in June: DAPA chief | Yonhap News Agency

(ATTN: CORRECTS figure in para 7; RECASTS para 3)By Chae Yun-hwan SACHEON, South Korea, ...

en.yna.co.kr

 

[Umigami]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1658403504858230784

 

[Chocopie]

Successful first flight of KF-21 prototype no. 5 equipped with domestic AESA radar

Edit: video changed bc of too loud audio (caution, it’s still loud )

Quickly Google translated article:

All 4 single-seat machines and 1 double-seat machine succeeded… The last unit 6 is scheduled to fly in June ​

Reporter Park Soo-yoon = The fifth domestic supersonic fighter, the KF-21 (Boramae) prototype, succeeded in its first flight.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced on the 16th that the fifth KF-21 prototype took off at 2:19 pm from the 3rd Training Wing in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, and flew over the South Sea for 45 minutes.

The steering wheel was held by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) chief test pilot Lee Dong-gyu.

The KF-21 Prototype 5, a single-seat aircraft with one pilot on board, will be mobilized for avionics performance verification tests such as active electronically scanned phased array (AESA) radar. An aerial refueling test will also be conducted in the second half of the year.

A total of 4 single-seat prototypes (Units 1, 2, 3, and 5) were all successfully tested after Unit 5. Units 4 and 6 were produced as two-seat aircraft with two pilots. Prototype 4 made its first flight last February, and Unit 6 will go on a test flight in June.

The Agency said, “If the last prototype 6 succeeds in its first flight in June, all KF-21 prototypes will succeed in flight. will be able to do,” he said.


[Graphic] Development log of domestic supersonic fighter KF-21 'Boramae'
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Ban Jong-bin [email protected]
Facebook tuney.kr/LeYN1 Twitter @yonhap_graphics

Meanwhile, Indonesia, a co-developer of the KF-21, will receive one prototype 5 that succeeded in its first flight and various technical data if it pays its overdue contributions.

Indonesian military officials currently dispatched to Korea will be seated in a two-seat plane of the KF-21 with two pilots in the course of future flight training to observe the Korean pilot's piloting process and learn piloting skills.

국산 전투기 KF-21 5호기도 첫 비행 성공…하반기 공중급유 시험 | 연합뉴스

(서울=연합뉴스) 박수윤 기자 = 국산 초음속 전투기 KF-21(보라매) 시제 5호기가 첫 비행에 성공했다.

www.yna.co.kr

 

[MADDOG]

Successful first flight of KF-21 prototype no. 5 equipped with domestic AESA radar

Quickly Google translated article:

All 4 single-seat machines and 1 double-seat machine succeeded… The last unit 6 is scheduled to fly in June ​

Reporter Park Soo-yoon = The fifth domestic supersonic fighter, the KF-21 (Boramae) prototype, succeeded in its first flight.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration announced on the 16th that the fifth KF-21 prototype took off at 2:19 pm from the 3rd Training Wing in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, and flew over the South Sea for 45 minutes.

The steering wheel was held by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) chief test pilot Lee Dong-gyu.

The KF-21 Prototype 5, a single-seat aircraft with one pilot on board, will be mobilized for avionics performance verification tests such as active electronically scanned phased array (AESA) radar. An aerial refueling test will also be conducted in the second half of the year.

A total of 4 single-seat prototypes (Units 1, 2, 3, and 5) were all successfully tested after Unit 5. Units 4 and 6 were produced as two-seat aircraft with two pilots. Prototype 4 made its first flight last February, and Unit 6 will go on a test flight in June.

The Agency said, “If the last prototype 6 succeeds in its first flight in June, all KF-21 prototypes will succeed in flight. will be able to do,” he said.


[Graphic] Development log of domestic supersonic fighter KF-21 'Boramae'
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Ban Jong-bin [email protected]
Facebook tuney.kr/LeYN1 Twitter @yonhap_graphics

Meanwhile, Indonesia, a co-developer of the KF-21, will receive one prototype 5 that succeeded in its first flight and various technical data if it pays its overdue contributions.

Indonesian military officials currently dispatched to Korea will be seated in a two-seat plane of the KF-21 with two pilots in the course of future flight training to observe the Korean pilot's piloting process and learn piloting skills.

국산 전투기 KF-21 5호기도 첫 비행 성공…하반기 공중급유 시험 | 연합뉴스

(서울=연합뉴스) 박수윤 기자 = 국산 초음속 전투기 KF-21(보라매) 시제 5호기가 첫 비행에 성공했다.

www.yna.co.kr

Congratulations. TAI is trying hard to keep up with you lads.

 

[Umigami]

 

[Umigami]

Moment of truth in June ... ​

Indonesia to provide S. Korea with new payment schedule for joint fighter project in June: DAPA chief​

SACHEON, South Korea, May 10 (Yonhap) -- Indonesia will provide South Korea with a new timetable for its payments for the joint KF-21 fighter project by late next month, the head of Seoul's state arms procurement agency has said, in a development expected to ease concerns over its unpaid share of the program's costs.

Eom Dong-hwan, minister of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), told reporters of the plan Tuesday, as Indonesia resumed payments for the project last November for the first time in nearly four years.

As a partner country, Indonesia has agreed to shoulder about 20 percent of the project's total cost of 8.8 trillion won (US$6.5 billion). But it had halted payments from January 2019 until its resumption last November, raising questions over its commitment to the advanced warplane development project launched in 2015.

The country is estimated to have over 800 billion won in unpaid amount for the project scheduled for initial completion by 2026.

A prototype of the KF-21 fighter jet under development bearing the flags of South Korea and Indonesia moves out of a hangar at the headquarters of Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. in Sacheon, 437 kilometers south of Seoul, on May 9, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

"(Indonesia) has promised to notify South Korea of its payment plan for the remaining amount by late June," Eom said during a media event at the headquarters of Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI), the country's sole aircraft maker, in Sacheon, 437 kilometers south of Seoul.

"In order to ensure the payment plan proceeds normally next month, our project chief is scheduled to visit Indonesia soon for talks with high-level defense officials on its details," he added.

Eom acknowledged the financial burden Indonesia is likely to face considering the project's deadline, but noted that the country made a payment of around 40 billion won in late February.

"We plan to manage such issues so that it does not disrupt the KF-21's development," he said.

Meanwhile, KAI CEO Kang Goo-young said the company is on track to deliver the first batch of FA-50 light attack aircraft to Poland, with a roll-out ceremony for the first model to be held on June 7.

KAI signed a deal last year to supply 48 FA-50s to the country amid Warsaw's efforts to replace its aging warplanes in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"The first and second FA-50s will be sent in late July so that they can be assembled in Poland in early August and be able to conduct flights from mid-August," he said.

Under the deal, KAI will deliver 12 FA-50 "gap filler" models to the country by the end of this year and 36 FA-50 PL models, equipped with the advanced active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and other upgrades, from 2025 to 2028.

View attachment 57291
This photo shows a prototype of the KF-21 fighter jet under development at the headquarters of Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. in Sacheon, 437 kilometers south of Seoul, on May 9, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

During Tuesday's event, reporters were given close looks at KAI's fighter jets, including a demonstration of a KF-21 prototype being equipped with mock air-to-air missiles.

A group of engineers swiftly fastened two dummy air-to-air missiles -- a beyond-visual-range Meteor and a short-range AIM-2000 -- on prototype No. 1 parked at a hangar just minutes away from the company's assembly lines.

Since the KF-21's maiden flight in July last year, South Korea has staged over 200 test flights with four prototypes and the aircraft has achieved supersonic speeds and has staged armament tests.

"Guided launches (for the missiles) are scheduled to take place in the second half of 2025," Cha Myung-su, a senior test pilot at KAI, told reporters.

The fifth KF-21 prototype will make its first flight next week and the sixth one by the end of next month, according to KAI officials.

DAPA plans to stage some 2,000 test flights in total with the six prototypes by 2026.

On the back of the steady progress, DAPA seeks to sign a mass production contract for the aircraft next year, with Eom vowing to swiftly complete a "provisional" combat suitability test for the aircraft as part of efforts to finalize the mass production plan.

Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI) workers equip a mock AIM-2000 air-to-air missile on the wing of a KF-21 prototype at a hangar in the company's headquarters in Sacheon, 437 kilometers south of Seoul, on May 9, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Indonesia to provide S. Korea with new payment schedule for joint fighter project in June: DAPA chief | Yonhap News Agency

(ATTN: CORRECTS figure in para 7; RECASTS para 3)By Chae Yun-hwan SACHEON, South Korea, ...

en.yna.co.kr

We're hoping for the best

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1658426743546605569

 

[Chocopie]

Congratulations. TAI is trying hard to keep up with you lads.

The project progress is going very well so far: 200 of planned 2.000 flight tests done.

As of today:

S. Korea's KF-21 fighter gets 'provisional' combat suitability evaluation​

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said the evaluation by the Joint Chiefs of Staff came Monday, based on the outcome of hundreds of flight and ground tests on the jet that have proceeded for some two years.

The "provisional" evaluation scheme has been introduced to allow weapons developers to secure mass-production budgets even before prototypes meet all combat requirements in an effort to accelerate the overall production process.


Next big thing expected end of this year is the unveiling of the stealth UCAV prototype KUS-FC, in final assembly at Korean AIr Aerospace (not KAI):

Estimated specs (data are unconfirmed and shrouded in secrecy):

Length: ~12 m
Height: ~ 3 m
Wingspan: ~ 20 m
Endurance: ~ 6 hrs

- next-gen RAM coating
- internal weapons bays
- nose mounted-intake
- shielded exhaust
- conformal antenna & sensors
- single turbofan engine without afterburner (domestic Hanwha? Or P&W F100-PW-220U? dry thrust?)
- max. speed: ~ 0.75 to 0,8 Mach (???)

 

[MADDOG]

The project progress is going very well so far: 200 of planned 2.000 flight tests done.

As of today:

S. Korea's KF-21 fighter gets 'provisional' combat suitability evaluation​

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said the evaluation by the Joint Chiefs of Staff came Monday, based on the outcome of hundreds of flight and ground tests on the jet that have proceeded for some two years.

The "provisional" evaluation scheme has been introduced to allow weapons developers to secure mass-production budgets even before prototypes meet all combat requirements in an effort to accelerate the overall production process.


Next big thing expected end of this year is the unveiling of the stealth UCAV prototype KUS-FC, in final assembly at Korean AIr Aerospace (not KAI):

View attachment 57447

View attachment 57448

Estimated specs (data are unconfirmed and shrouded in secrecy):

Length: ~12 m
Height: ~ 3 m
Wingspan: ~ 20 m
Endurance: ~ 6 hrs

- next-gen RAM coating
- internal weapons bays
- nose mounted-intake
- shielded exhaust
- conformal antenna & sensors
- single turbofan engine without afterburner (domestic Hanwha? Or P&W F100-PW-220U? dry thrust?)
- max. speed: ~ 0.75 to 0,8 Mach (???)

Interesting. I thought it was KAI developing it. Maybe different programs. We've got this for now...

What is the closest program you've got ongoing to the ANKA-3? It looks like the Korean Aerospace sector has a lot of active programs in this regard. I'm guessing KAI's iteration is closer...

 

[Lordimperator]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1658402967320670209

 

[Chocopie]

Interesting. I thought it was KAI developing it. Maybe different programs. We've got this for now...


View attachment 57449

What is the closest program you've got ongoing to the ANKA-3? It looks like the Korean Aerospace sector has a lot of active programs in this regard. I'm guessing KAI's iteration is closer...

View attachment 57450

The drone in the last picture was an earlier design iteration of the "KUS-X" stealth UCAV program based on the KAORI-X ("Stingray-X") demonstrator. KAI lost the bid to KAL (Korean Airlines), so there's only this official government funded stealth project ongoing.

Korean Airline also presented a smaller reduced RCS-drone "Loyal Wingman" at DX 2022: KUS-LW

KAL's future vision is that KUS-LWs will fulfill different tasks in a drone squad (based on swarm AI): models with recon radar, others with EW systems, escorts with air-to-air missiles, ground attack models will fly missions in team with bigger KUS-FC drones or KF-21 as MUM-T.

This somewhat funny PC-gamelike animation shows the future drone squad concept against North Korean Mig-29s (hahaha! guess they didn't want to use Chinese J-20s) and enemy ground targets.

Edited: “… only this official government funded stealth project ongoing.“