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

[urban mine]

Seoul ADEX 2025 KF-21 Boramae Demonstration Flight Rehearsal

 

[urban mine]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1979106295149138103

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1979031937525137872

I'm glad the weather is nice today. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy and cloudy, so it won't be great....

 

[urban mine]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1979516418191143030

KF-21 cockpit

 

[urban mine]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1979746905728151671

A lot of Japanese people came to this year's ADEX. Thanks to that, I got to see some great photos online.

 

[urban mine]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1981376193355043277

 

[urban mine]

ROKAF Chief of Staff boarded the KF-21 for his first command flight since taking office.

+ Photo during the Meteor Live-Fire Test(It must have been last May.).

 

[Spitfire9]

I think that Indonesia agreed to the establishment and maintenance of infrastructure for production and final assembly of KF-21 many years ago. It did not do it. What value would there be in Indonesia again agreeing to the establishment and maintenance of infrastructure for production and final assembly?

In any event, is the country still seriously interested in procuring KF-21 when it has already committed to ordering KAAN?

 

[Pokemonte13]

I think that Indonesia agreed to the establishment and maintenance of infrastructure for production and final assembly many years ago. It did not do it. What value would there be in Indonesia again agreeing to the establishment and maintenance of infrastructure for production and final assembly?

In any event, why would the country be interested in procuring KF-21 when it has already committed to ordering KAAN?

Indonesia is buying everything at once even though it doesn't have enough money for it. Only rafale is certain as it's already being produced. It also could be they are buying all of it with a very large line of credit

 

[urban mine]

I think that Indonesia agreed to the establishment and maintenance of infrastructure for production and final assembly of KF-21 many years ago. It did not do it. What value would there be in Indonesia again agreeing to the establishment and maintenance of infrastructure for production and final assembly?

In any event, is the country still seriously interested in procuring KF-21 when it has already committed to ordering KAAN?

Well? I once received advice from someone about how to approach Indonesia, and the gist was that you need tremendous patience to build relationships there. People often say that patience is something Koreans lack. I think we Koreans are in the process of learning that patience.

 

[Spitfire9]

KF-21 ground attack capability , scheduled for 2028, may be introduced in 2026.

South Korea moves to speed up KF-21 Block 2, maritime helicopter acquisitions

South Korea has announced that it is accelerating the acquisition of the Block 2 version of the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KF-21 ‘Boramae' fighter aircraft for the...

www.janes.com

 

[urban mine]

KF-21 ground attack capability , scheduled for 2028, may be introduced in 2026.

South Korea moves to speed up KF-21 Block 2, maritime helicopter acquisitions

South Korea has announced that it is accelerating the acquisition of the Block 2 version of the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KF-21 ‘Boramae' fighter aircraft for the...

www.janes.com

2026 is too early. It will be phased in starting from the first half of 2027.

 

[urban mine]

Aviation Week's November 10 edition covers Korea Aerospace Industries, Northrop Grumman, and more. | Joseph Anselmo posted on the topic | LinkedIn

Aviation Week Network Defense Editor Steve Trimble somehow arranged an exclusive tour of Korea Aerospace Industries’ flight line in South Korea, the cover story in the November 10 edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology. Trimble also updates his recent online scoop about a secretly built...

www.linkedin.com

It can be seen that the KF-21 mass-produced units will use this paint scheme. I think it's not bad.

 

[TR_123456]

Aviation Week's November 10 edition covers Korea Aerospace Industries, Northrop Grumman, and more. | Joseph Anselmo posted on the topic | LinkedIn

Aviation Week Network Defense Editor Steve Trimble somehow arranged an exclusive tour of Korea Aerospace Industries’ flight line in South Korea, the cover story in the November 10 edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology. Trimble also updates his recent online scoop about a secretly built...

www.linkedin.com

View attachment 78288
It can be seen that the KF-21 mass-produced units will use this paint scheme. I think it's not bad.

Looks good,why ''not bad''?

 

[urban mine]

Looks good,why ''not bad''?

Personally, I like the paint scheme on Prototype No. 5. It's similar to the KF-5's paint scheme.

 

[urban mine]

Nikon

하늘 위를 가르는 곡예 비행, 정밀함과 속도가 만들어내는 완벽한 곡선. ⠀ 공중에서 펼쳐진 역동적인 움직임, 그 모든 순간을 Z6III로 담았습니다. ⠀ 순간의 흐름까지 생생한 기록, 니콘 ⠀ 📍서울 ADEX 2025 📸 photo by. @zzanggu.kim ⠀ _ #니콘크리에이터스 #nikoncreators #ADEX

www.facebook.com

 

[urban mine]

This is a video of pit testing for some weapons applied to the KF-21.

From December 2025 to December 2028, approximately 700 billion won will be invested to test over 10 types of air-to-ground weapons for the KF-21.

 

[urban mine]

The rollout of the first mass-produced KF-21 is expected to take place in March of this year. According to Kookbangilbo (a newspaper published by the Defense Media Agency), military officials have suggested that only about 200 sorties remain in the flight testing phase.

A video released by KAI (Korea Aerospace Industries) shows the current state of the KF-21 mass-production line. According to a video released last July, production units 1 through 3 were already in the final assembly stage, suggesting that even more follow-on aircraft have likely entered final assembly by now.

An official stated that this stage takes approximately nine months for the first unit. Based on this timeline, the expectation that the rollout of the first mass-production unit will take place in March seems highly plausible rather than far-fetched.

The process begins by installing the internal wiring and tubing, followed by functional checks. After that, the various onboard equipment and systems are integrated, and further functional inspections and tests are conducted. Once these tests are complete, the external painting is applied, which marks the conclusion of the final assembly process. From that point, the aircraft moves on to the flight testing phase.

When asked whether the KF-21 mass-production process is proceeding smoothly, an official remarked that throughout their career, initial production runs for every project have never been without challenges.

In the case of the KF-21, production began before the full system development was finalized. Furthermore, because the global aerospace supply chain has not fully recovered since the pandemic, there have been delays in sourcing components from abroad. To address this, senior-level engineers are reportedly holding daily meetings right in front of the aircraft, putting in every effort to keep the schedule on track.

As mentioned earlier, while the performance flight tests for the prototypes are entering their final stages, this is not the end of the process. Even after the mass-produced aircraft are delivered to the Air Force, further testing may identify areas that require improvement or refinement. The insights gained from this continuous feedback will be invaluable in enhancing the production of subsequent units.