Indonesian engineers probed over attempted theft of KF-21 fighter jet data

KF-21 Boramae, the country's first indigenously developed fighter jet, flies over Seoul Airport in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, during a flight demonstration held on Oct. 16. [NEWS1]

Two Indonesian engineers are being probed over suspicions that they attempted to steal technologies related to the KF-21 advanced multirole fighter jet, Korea’s state arms procurement agency said Friday.

According to Seoul's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), the engineers were assigned to work on the KF-21 project at Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the country’s sole aircraft manufacturer.

DAPA said that the engineers are suspected of trying to save classified data from the KF-21 project on a USB device. They are currently barred from leaving Korea.

“A joint investigation by relevant agencies, including the National Intelligence Service, is currently ongoing to clarify details regarding the alleged technology theft by the Indonesians,” a DAPA official told reporters.

The official said the probe is focused on identifying the specific documents the Indonesian engineers attempted to steal.

He noted that the USB drive mostly contained general documents not tied to strategic technologies that might violate laws on military secrets or defense technology.

Other sources familiar with the case said that the investigation is focusing on whether the data stored on the USB device include strategic technologies tied to the development of the KF-21, which is also known as the Boramae.

Investigators are also looking into the possibility that the engineers had an internal accomplice, as their access to certain zones within the KAI complex was restricted.

Although Jakarta initially promised to pay for 20 percent of the KF-21 project's 8.8 trillion won ($6.5 billion) price tag, the country is currently in arrears by more than 1 trillion won, having only paid around 278.3 billion won thus far.

Seoul plans to begin production of KF-21 fighter jets later this year with the aim of deploying 120 KF-21 jets by 2032.

Indonesia plans to locally produce 48 KF-21 jets after receiving one prototype and technical data.

Aiming to replace the Air Force's dated McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and Northrop F-5 supersonic fighters, the KF-21 was envisioned as a 4.5-generation aircraft on par with the latest F-16 but less stealthy than the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II developed by Lockheed Martin.

During the KF-21's development process, Korean engineers localized four key technologies needed for the indigenous stealth fighter, but whose transfer had been blocked by the United States: the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar system, infrared search and tracking system, electrooptical targeting pods and radio frequency jammers.

Six KF-21 prototypes to date have successfully completed test flights, with the first prototype having taken to the skies in July 2022. The sixth and final prototype underwent testing last June.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]