South Korea's Aerospace Industries has finally unveiled its first home grown twin engine KF-X prototype, with the aircraft now officially named as the KF-21 Boramae.
The 4.5 generation fighter jet in the same size as of F-16 Viper is expected to replace the McDonnell F-4D/E Phantom II and Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II in ROKAF service.
The rollout ceremony which took place at the headquarters of KAI in Sacheon was attended by President Moon Jae In. He lauded "a new era of self-defense," and "historic milestone in the development of South Korea aviation industry. Moon also vowed to put South Korea's aviation industry into seventh of the world's leading power by 2030.
“We’ve got our own supersonic fighter jet finally,” President Moon Jae-in said in a speech.
"A new era of independent defense has begun, and it's a historic milestone in the development of the [South Korean] aviation industry," he added.
Around 65 percent of the jet’s components are under production locally. Among the components built by South Korean developers are the active electronically scanned array radar; the electronic warfare suite; the infrared search-and-track pod; and the electro-optical targeting pod, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration.
Moon said after ground and flight tests are completed, mass production of the KF-21 will begin with a goal of 40 jets deployed by 2028 and 120 by 2032.
"When full-scale mass production begins, 100,000 additional jobs will be created and we'll have an added value of 5.9 trillion Korean won ($5.2 billion). The effect will be much greater if they're exported," Moon said.
South Korea is expected to produce six KF-21 prototypes for testing and development, the first three to be completed by the end of this year and the next three in the first half of 2022, according to the country's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).
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