Design of South Korea’s KF-X Frozen, Prototype to be Built by 2021

Design of South Korea’s combat jet, the KF-X, has been finalised and prototype of the jet will be ready in about two years from now.

The cost of the development project, pegged at 8.8 trillion won ($7.3 billion) was initiated in January 2016. The new fighters will replace Air Force's aging fleet of F-4 and F-5 jets.

The 4.5 generation, semi-stealth aircraft are being developed by Seoul in partnership with Indonesia. In all, about 168 jets will be built, of which the former will receive 120 and the latter will get 48 jets. The fighters will have semi-conformal missile launchers, advanced avionics and aerial refuelling capability.

South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) tasked with defense-related development and procurements, wrapped-up their three-day critical design review session on 26 September, local media reported.

According to DAPA, the project progressed to prototype construction phase after meeting all the design requirements. The prototype will be ready by 2021, and complete development will finish by 2026.