South Korean KF-21 fighter performs test flight with AESA radar

Seoul, Mar 4 (EFE).- The South Korean KF-21 Boramae fighter has successfully carried out a test flight with an active electronically scanned radar (AESA) equipped, a new advance in the development project of South Korean aircraft manufacturing.

The third prototype of the aircraft took off at 10:00 local time on Saturday (01:00 GMT) from the Third Flight Training Wing of Sacheon Airfield, about 300 kilometers south of Seoul, and completed a flight of 84 minutes long, as reported by South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program (DAPA).

This prototype made its first successful flight in January of this year, but this time the test was carried out with the aforementioned radar.

The first and second prototypes of the South Korean KF-21 fighter made their maiden flights in July and November 2022, respectively, while the fourth, a two-seat model, also made its maiden flight in the first month of 2023.

JADA said it plans to start flying two more prototypes in the first half of this year as part of a plan to carry out some 2,000 test flights by February 2026, according to details published by the Yonhap news agency.

South Korea’s plan to produce a 4.5-generation supersonic fighter plane has been fraught with skepticism for years because of its 8.8 trillion won ($6.4 billion) cost and lack of key US technology patents.

The idea of developing an indigenous South Korean fighter to replace the obsolete F-4 and F-5 was approved in 2013 and two years later Washington refused to transfer four technologies that had to be developed by South Korean companies.

Seoul wants to integrate the KF-21 into its air response system, which already includes F-15 and F-35 fighters, in the event of a North Korean attack. EFE

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