South Korea’s domestically developed KF-21 Boramae fighter has received a final determination that it is suitable for combat use, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said Wednesday.
DAPA said the decision marks completion of verification of all performance requirements for the KF-21 Block-I after about three years of follow-on testing and evaluation since a “provisional combat suitability” determination in May 2023.
The KF-21 program formally entered full-scale system development in December 2015. Flight testing began in May 2021, and through February this year the program conducted about five years of ground tests to verify durability and structural integrity, DAPA said.
DAPA said about 1,600 test flights validated flight performance and stability across about 13,000 test conditions, including aerial refueling and weapons-release tests.
The agency said it expanded test airfields from Sacheon to Seosan and, for the first time in South Korea, introduced aerial refueling into flight testing, improving efficiency and scope. It said the development flight-test schedule was completed two months earlier than planned.
DAPA said the KF-21 meets the Air Force’s required operational capabilities and has secured the technology level and stability needed to carry out missions in real battlefield conditions.
The program is set to complete system development in June. The first mass-produced KF-21, rolled out in March, is scheduled to be delivered to the Air Force in the second half of this year, with subsequent aircraft to be deployed in sequence, DAPA said.
No Ji-man, head of DAPA’s Korea Fighter Program Division, said the combat suitability determination was achieved through close cooperation among the Defense Ministry, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Air Force, Korea Aerospace Industries and the Agency for Defense Development. He called it a symbolic achievement showing South Korea has fully secured an independent fighter-development capability.
No said the agency will push ahead with mass production and fielding without disruption to further strengthen the Air Force’s operational capability.
DAPA said it plans to deliver 40 initial mass-produced KF-21s focused on air-to-air capability to the Air Force by 2028. It also plans to produce an additional 80 aircraft by 2032 with air-to-ground and air-to-ship capabilities, for a total of 120 deliveries.
DAPA said the decision marks completion of verification of all performance requirements for the KF-21 Block-I after about three years of follow-on testing and evaluation since a “provisional combat suitability” determination in May 2023.
The KF-21 program formally entered full-scale system development in December 2015. Flight testing began in May 2021, and through February this year the program conducted about five years of ground tests to verify durability and structural integrity, DAPA said.
DAPA said about 1,600 test flights validated flight performance and stability across about 13,000 test conditions, including aerial refueling and weapons-release tests.
The agency said it expanded test airfields from Sacheon to Seosan and, for the first time in South Korea, introduced aerial refueling into flight testing, improving efficiency and scope. It said the development flight-test schedule was completed two months earlier than planned.
DAPA said the KF-21 meets the Air Force’s required operational capabilities and has secured the technology level and stability needed to carry out missions in real battlefield conditions.
The program is set to complete system development in June. The first mass-produced KF-21, rolled out in March, is scheduled to be delivered to the Air Force in the second half of this year, with subsequent aircraft to be deployed in sequence, DAPA said.
No Ji-man, head of DAPA’s Korea Fighter Program Division, said the combat suitability determination was achieved through close cooperation among the Defense Ministry, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Air Force, Korea Aerospace Industries and the Agency for Defense Development. He called it a symbolic achievement showing South Korea has fully secured an independent fighter-development capability.
No said the agency will push ahead with mass production and fielding without disruption to further strengthen the Air Force’s operational capability.
DAPA said it plans to deliver 40 initial mass-produced KF-21s focused on air-to-air capability to the Air Force by 2028. It also plans to produce an additional 80 aircraft by 2032 with air-to-ground and air-to-ship capabilities, for a total of 120 deliveries.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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