S. Korea to Roll Out Prototype of First Homegrown Fighter Jet Next Month

01 Maret 2021

The first prototype aircraft is about 92% assembled with it's double engine (all photos : ROK Armed Forces)

SACHEON, South Korea (Yonhap) -- South Korea will showcase a prototype of the country's first indigenous fighter jet in April, the arms procurement agency has said.

Jung Kwang-sun, heading the KF-X program at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, said the planned rollout event will be a "landmark moment" for the country and the aerospace industry.

"After working only with the blueprint so far, we will now have something we can actually see and test whether what we have been studying actually works," Jung told reporters at the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) headquarters in the southern city of Sacheon on Wednesday.

South Korea has been working on the next-generation fighter development project since late 2015 to replace the Air Force's aging fleet of F-4 and F-5 jets.

With a maximum payload of 7,700 kilograms, the new warplane will have 10 pods for air-to-air missiles and other weapons, capable of flying at 2,200 kph with a flying range of 2,900 km.

Leading the 8.8 trillion-won (US$7.9 billion) project is KAI, the country's sole aircraft manufacturer.

(Yonhap)