KFX/IFX Update and Development | World Defense

KFX/IFX Update and Development

Indos

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26 September 2019

Detail Design Has Been Completed

The Defense Affairs Agency (CEO Wang Jung-hong) held the KF-X Detailed Design Review (CDR) Meeting * from September 24 to 26, allowing all military requirements to be reflected in the design and proceeding to the prototype production stage. It was confirmed that there is.
* CDR (Critical Design Review): Verify that system requirements and functional requirements are all reflected in the initial product specification that satisfies the detailed design, and proceed to prototype production, system integration, and testing within cost, schedule, and risk. Procedure to formally confirm that this is possible

❍ The Korean fighter system development project is under the supervision of the Korea Aerospace Industries (President Ahn Hyun-ho). The development began in January 2016 and completed the basic design in June 2018. Detailed hardware and software details are now available. The design is finalized and part fabrication is in progress.

❍ Up to three years and nine months from the start of the project, the wind tunnel test, the updating of major system models, and the design and analysis results for each field continuously improved the shape.

❍ In this detailed design review meeting, reviewers composed of government and private experts, including the Air Force, reviewed about 390 technical data to confirm that the military requirements were properly reflected in the design.

❍ The head of the Korean Fighter Project Division, Senior Defense Officer, Kwang Sun-sun, said, “Now, Korean fighter aircraft development has successfully passed the detailed design review stage and faces new challenges in the construction and testing of prototypes.” We will make every effort to make Korean fighters with the performances that the military satisfies through cooperation with related organizations. ”

❍ The head of the Korean Air Fighter Project Division, Kwang-Su Ryu, said, “We have made great efforts to develop Korean fighter aircraft that meet the military needs through perfect quality assurance and ground and flight tests of prototypes based on the output from detailed design after the start of system development. I'll make it successful. ”

❍ The Korean fighter system development project will ship the first prototype in the first half of 2021. It will then begin its first flight test in the first half of 2022 and complete development by 2026. In addition, it plans to exhibit a full-scale Korean fighter model at ADEX (Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition) held in October this year.

 

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GE Aviation delivers first F414 engine for South Korea’s KF-X fighter
[IMG] By Garrett Reim

5 June 2020

GE Aviation delivered in May the first F414-400K engine for Korea Aerospace Industries’ (KAI’s) KF-X aircraft, an in-development fifth-generation fighter for the South Korean air force.

Flight tests on the twin-engined KF-X are planned to start in 2023, with the development programme scheduled to be finished in 2026. As part of the development programme, GE is to deliver 15 F414 flight-test engines for six prototype fighters by 2021, the company says.

[IMG]


Source: KAI

KF-X rendering

Seoul wants the KF-X to replace its air force’s ageing McDonnell Douglas F-4D/E Phantom II and Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II fighter fleets. It plans to order 120 examples of the stealth aircraft, with GE supplying 240 production examples of the F414, plus an undisclosed number of spares.

“GE’s F414 engine went into service in 1998 and has flown more than 4.6 million flight hours, with more than 1,750 engines delivered,” says GE. “In addition to the KF-X, the F414 powers Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler, Saab’s JAS 39E/F Gripen, India’s Tejas Mark 2, and Lockheed Martin and NASA’s X-59 Quiet Supersonic Transport.”

GE also supplies the F404 engine for the KAI T-50 Golden Eagle advanced jet trainer.

https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-...-for-south-koreas-kf-x-fighter/138698.article

The engine is intended to build first prototype of KFX/IFX that is scheduled to be rolled out in 2021 inshaAllah. As the maiden flight, contrary to what has been written here, it has been planned to happen in 2022 instead of 2023.
 

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KAI to finalize assembly of next-gen KF-X fighter jet in H2



By Kim Byung-wook

Published : Jun 10, 2020 - 16:59 Updated : Jun 11, 2020 - 07:22

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Korea Aerospace Industries said Wednesday it will finalize the assembly of its next-generation KF-X fighter jet in the second half of this year.

South Korea’s sole aircraft manufacturer is currently assembling each of the top, middle and bottom parts of the fuselage of its fifth-generation fighter and the final assembly is scheduled for the second half of the year.

"To introduce a prototype next year, KAI is looking forward to a final assembly of the jet in the period,” a company official said.

“Also, we have received 15 engines from General Electric to power six prototypes, with each requiring two engines. The remaining three are spares.”

KAI selected GE Aviation in May 2016 to supply the F414-GE-400K engines for the KF-X fighter. The multirole KF-X jet, a $7.4 billion project, is being designed and built by KAI.

The KF-X aircraft will replace Korea’s F-4D/E Phantom II and F-5E/F Tiger II fleet. The development program is scheduled to be completed in 2026, while flight testing will occur in 2023. A total of 120 KF-X aircrafts are scheduled for production for the Air Force. GE Aviation will provide 240 F414 engines plus spares.

GE has partnered with Korea many times to power aircrafts in their inventory. GE’s F404 engines currently power the country’s T-50 Golden Eagle, a high-performance supersonic trainer developed with KAI for the Korean Air Force. GE’s T700 turboshaft engines power the Korean utility helicopter Surion. Additionally, GE’s F110 engines power the Air Force’s F-15K aircraft.

By Kim Byung-wook ([email protected])

 

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KF-X project on track but concerns grow about Indonesian involvement

by Jon Grevatt

16 July 2020

Technicians from Indonesian aerospace firm PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) will soon be rejoining counterparts from Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) to undertake work on developing the Korean Fighter eXperimental (KF-X) multirole fighter aircraft, Janes has learnt.

PTDI technicians on the KF-X project – known as KF-X/IF-X in Indonesia – returned to Indonesia from South Korea in March when the Covid-19 epidemic was at its peak in the Northeast Asian country. An industry source has confirmed to Janes that these technicians are now “currently preparing to redeploy”.

An artist’s impression of the KF-X fighter aircraft. The first KF-X prototype is scheduled to be rolled out in April 2021. (DAPA)

An artist’s impression of the KF-X fighter aircraft. The first KF-X prototype is scheduled to be rolled out in April 2021. (DAPA)

Janes understands that at the end of 2019 the total number of PTDI technicians on the KF-X project in South Korea was about 100, with their work mainly focused on aircraft design and manufacturing processes. Their redeployment will be framed against requirements for social distancing and other Covid-19-related guidelines.

The move to re-engage PTDI technicians on the project comes against a background of progress on the development of KF-X prototypes but also continuing delays in efforts to reach a compromise on the scope of Indonesian financial participation in the programme. Another factor that could have an impact on Indonesia’s involvement are some concerns in Jakarta about the strategic value of its involvement.

KAI has confirmed that assembly of the first KF-X prototype is scheduled to be finalised in the second half of 2020, with a view to rolling out the aircraft in April 2021. The schedules confirm that the KF-X programme has not been affected by Covid-19 and is on track to start mass production in the mid-2020s.

 

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KFX/IFX C 103 design seen in Indonesian wind tunnel test, BBTA3. Final KFX/IFX design which is C 109 is derived from C 103 design that is worked by ADD Korea and Indonesian Aerospace in first phase of development (technology development phase). KAI Korea joint the project in 2015 in second phase of development (manufacturing phase)

 

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AlhamduliLLAH, the progress of manufacturing phase has been so far on schedule.

Current progress.

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The program is worked in KAI Aerospace facility since 2015 where at least 114 Indonesian Aerospace engineers are participating. Indonesia which is represented by Indonesian Aerospace engineers and Bandung Institute of Technology have been involved since the start of the program which is technological development phase which was started in 2010 until Desember 2013. South Korea at the time is represented by ADD Korea and the joint R&D office is set up in South Korea.

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KFX/IFX mock up seen in DX 2020 event in Seoul, South Korea. The defense exibition event was held in 18-20 November 2020.

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Quite interesting development. Any ETA for first taxi?
Well, prototype is expected to finish in April 2021 and is planned to conduct maiden flight in 2022, so I guess starting in the second semester of 2021 they would be expected do that..

Sorry typo, I mean 2022
 
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Check out these latest photos from Korea Aerospace Industries assembly line featuring KF-X !

These images were accompanied by several important updates regarding the overall program.

As of now, 8 prototype aircraft are being assembled simultaneously and four of them are already in late or final stages.
6 will be used for flight testing while 2 will be used for ground testing. 2 prototypes will be two-seater variants.

The first prototype aircraft is about 92% assembled and will be unveiled in April. First flight is expected to occur on July, 2022 following a year of ground testing. 2nd 3rd prototypes will finish assembly by the end of the year and 4th ~ 6th by next year. Overall development is scheduled to be completed by 2026 following operational deployment of KF-X.

As of first prototype aircraft, localization rates of four “core technology” are as follows:
AESA Radar: 89%
IRST: 37%
EO TGP: 82%
EW Suite: 77%

Lastly, KF-X will reportedly be painted same color as ROKAF’s F-15K (dark grey).

KF-X is a 4.5th gen fighter jet being developed by Korea Aerospace Industries in partnership with Lockheed Martin for the Republic of Korea Air Force. Featuring dimension of 16.9m x 4.7m x 11.2m, KF-X is larger than F-16 and is of similiar size as F-18. Development of KF-X began in earnest on January 2016 and the assembly process began in 2019 after Critical Design Review (CDR) was completed in 2018. KF-X will operate alongside more advanced F-35A in ROKAF inventory.

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Khafee

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South Korea Just Unveiled Its New Fighter Jet. It Looks Awfully Familiar.

Apr 13, 2021

The KF-21 Boramae is a lot like the F-22 Raptor—with a few big differences.
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  • South Korea has unveiled its new Boramae (“Falcon”) fighter jet.
  • The fighter, built in cooperation with several international defense contractors, should enter service in the early 2030s.
  • The jet could become an export hit with countries that can’t afford the F-35.

South Korea has unveiled the first fighter jet indigenous to the Korean peninsula. The KF-21 Boramae (“Falcon”) will replace older fighters in the Republic of Korea Air Force.

The jet, which resembles the F-22 Raptor, could also become a hit with smaller air forces or countries seeking a more affordable fighter fleet.

South Korea revealed the KF-21 on April 9 in a socially distanced ceremony in Seoul. The country first announced the fighter in 2015, and subsequent development only took 6 years. South Korea developed the fighter in cooperation with Indonesia, though there has been grumbling that Indonesia failed to pay its share of the development costs.


There’s a reason a country that had never built a fighter before brought the KF-21 to life so quickly: outside help.

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) worked with American defense giants Lockheed Martin and General Electric to develop the KF-21. Israeli defense contractor Elbit provided terrain following/terrain avoidance expertise for safe flying during low-altitude flight, while another Israeli company, Elta, helped develop the radar system.


Armament will be outsourced entirely: The KF-21 will be armed with BAE’s Meteor air-to-air missile (the world’s first ramjet-powered anti-air missile), and the Saab/MBDA Taurus cruise missile will likely provide precision air-to-ground firepower. The fighter is also armed with an M61 20-millimeter Gatling gun provided by General Electric.

The new fighter jet is 55 feet long with a wingspan of 36 feet, making it just a shade longer and narrower than the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter, and noticeably smaller than the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and F-22 Raptor. The Boramae looks a lot like the F-22 Raptor, with canted vertical stabilizers, diamond shaped wings, angular air intakes, and twin jet engines.

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A KF-21 wind tunnel model.
KAI/Flickr


The aircraft has 10 external hardpoints for carrying weapons, sensor pods, and fuel. It has a minimum takeoff weight of 17,000 pounds and a maximum takeoff weight of 56,400 pounds. The Boramae’s two General Electric F414 engines, the same engines in the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, can generate a maximum of 44,000 pounds of thrust. KAI describes the jet’s top speed as 1,400 miles per hour (mph), or just short of Mach 2.

South Korea refers to the Boramae as a “4.5-generation fighter.” The fighter isn’t meant to be as stealthy as fifth-gens like the F-22 or F-35, though it almost certainly has a smaller radar signature than fourth-gens like the F-15 and F-16. The Boramae is somewhere in-between.

The KF-21’s technologies include an advanced electronically scanned array radar system for detecting and tracking aerial threats, an infrared search and track system for quietly detecting aircraft at shorter ranges, and an electro-optical target pod that can detect targets on the ground.

South Korea has big plans for the KF-21. The country has an export-driven economy, with brands like LG, Hyundai, and Samsung considered household names in the U.S. Now, the country is beginning to ramp up its defense industry with an eye toward arms exports.

In addition to Indonesia, South Korea is looking to the Philippines as a buyer. As long as KAI can keep manufacturing and operating costs down, the Boramae could be an attractive option to middle-sized air forces or those in developing countries. Not every country can afford an F-35, and there are plenty of air forces out there that would accept 60 percent of an F-35’s capability with 60 percent of the price tag.

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KF-21 will carry weapons externally, as depicted in this full scale model on display in 2019.
JUNG YEON-JEGetty Images

South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration says the KF-21 will integrate weapons by 2026, finish flight testing by 2028, and be combat-ready by 2032. South Korea plans to have 40 jets flying by 2028, and 120 jets by 2032.

The Boramae will replace very old F-5E Tiger II and F-4 Phantom II fighters in Republic of Korea Air Force service. Those jets are ready to retire now, so any delay in the KF-21 program could leave a capability gap in the country’s fighter fleet.
 
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