Seoul may accept Jakarta's reduced contribution to fighter jet project

Defense

Published: 08 May. 2024, 17:35 Updated: 08 May. 2024, 19:08

Seoul may accept Jakarta's reduced contribution to fighter jet project

A KF-21 fighter jet, center, flies while connected to a KC-330 tanker aircraft during an aerial refueling test off the southeastern coast of Korea in March. [DEFENSE ACQUISITION PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION]

Korea’s state arms procurement agency signaled on Wednesday that it might accept Indonesia's request to cut its pledged contribution to the KF-21 fighter jet project in return for fewer technology transfers.

The announcement came the same day that the agency said a KF-21 prototype had successfully test-fired air-to-air missiles, confirming its long-range fighting capabilities.

Seoul’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said that Jakarta recently offered to pay 600 billion won ($440 million) in total for the KF-21 jet project by 2026, or just one-third of the 1.6 trillion won it committed initially.

“We are pushing for changes to the scale of technology transfers to Indonesia in line with [potential] adjustments to the cost-sharing arrangement,” Noh Ji-man, the director general of the KF-21 project team at DAPA, said in a press briefing.

The latest figure suggested by Jakarta, which includes around 300 billion won already delivered toward the development of the 4.5-generation supersonic fighter jet, comes amid long-running concerns over payment delays.

Indonesia initially pledged to cover 20 percent of the 8.1 trillion-won KF-21 development project when it launched in 2015 in return for one prototype and technical data, as well as the right to build 48 jets in Indonesia.

Under the current arrangement, Indonesia is already in arrears by more than 1 trillion won.

Noh said DAPA will make a final decision on the Indonesian proposal toward the end of the month and then work on securing additional funds to compensate for the possible reduction in Indonesia’s contribution to the project.

That shortfall is likely to be covered by the Korean government.

Jakarta’s latest proposal comes four months after two Indonesian engineers were banned from leaving the country for possessing multiple USB storage devices with data from the KF-21 project.

The two engineers were first caught on Jan. 17 carrying the USB devices out of the Sacheon headquarters of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the country’s sole aircraft manufacturer and the lead developer of the KF-21.

Besides the ongoing investigation into the Indonesian engineers, development of the KF-21 appears to be proceeding as scheduled.

DAPA announced Wednesday that a KF-21 prototype successfully conducted the jet’s first live-fire test with long-range air-to-air Meteor missiles off the southern coast of Korea at 12:20 p.m. on Wednesday, making the Korean indigenous fighter the fourth in the world after the Eurofighter Typhoon, Rafael and Gripen to achieve the feat.

Each KF-21 aircraft can carry up to four Meteor missiles capable of flying at speeds exceeding Mach 4 and intercepting airborne targets over 200 kilometers (124 miles) away.

Six KF-21 prototypes have been built to date for testing the jet’s various capabilities, such as supersonic flight and air-to-air missile separation.

KAI plans to build 20 KF-21 aircraft this year and 20 more next year, and the Korean Air Force is due to receive its first batch of the jets in the latter half of 2026.

The KF-21, also known by its Korean name Boramae, is a 4.5-generation fighter jet on par with the latest F-16 but less stealthy than the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II developed by Lockheed Martin.

The domestically developed aircraft aims to replace the Korean Air Force's aging Northrop F-5s, as well as its McDonnell Douglas F-4s, which are due to be retired in June.

Development of the KF-21 required Korean engineers to localize several key technologies to produce a viable indigenous stealth fighter, including the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar system, infrared search and tracking system, electro-optical targeting pods and radio frequency jammers.

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