GE Aviation announced having delivered the first F414-400K reactor in May in South Korea. A first series of 15 F414s will indeed be delivered by the end of 2021 in order to serve to propel the six prototypes of the future South Korean stealth fighter, the KF-X, whose first flight is expected in 2023. Developed by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the KF-X is to replace the last F-5 Tiger II and F-4 Phantom II still in service in the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF).
General Electric engines are used to Korean programs. In fact, the F414 is a more modern and more powerful derivative of the F404, the engine that equips the Golden Eagle family, a Korean-designed monoreactor used as an advanced training aircraft, ground attack aircraft and light fighter, depending on the version. Much more ambitious, the future KF-X will be twin-engine and will present stealthy forms. It will present a configuration and performance fairly close to the TF-X designed in Turkey, or the AMCA planned in India, also powered by a pair of F414. In many ways, the F414 has established itself over the years as the benchmark engine for many new generation aircraft programs.
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