Construction of 120 KF-21 Boramae for the South Korean Air Force will begin in 2024.

The contract between DAPA, the South Korean arms agency, and the aircraft manufacturer KAI, for the mass production of the KF-21 Boramae fighter, will be signed soon, according to an official South Korean press release.

It will make it possible to begin manufacturing the 120 fighters expected by the South Korean air force before the end of the first half of 2024, with the last aircraft due to be delivered in 2032.

In many ways, South Korea's KF-21 Boramae mid-generation fighter program is remarkable. Intended to replace the F-4 Phantom II and F-5 Tiger in the South Korean air force, this twin-engine medium fighter, flirting with the 5th generation, will have cost barely more than $6 billion to design, barely 1,5% of what the development of the American F-35 cost.

The development of the KF-21 Boramae fighter impresses with its control of costs and schedule

Launched in 2015, the program will have made it possible to design the device, but also to carry out the test phase with six prototypes, including two two-seaters, in just ten years. A feat all the more notable as it is the first real fighter designed by KAI, after the very successful T-50 Golden Eagle training and attack aircraft, and its light combat version F/A- 50.

Even if the Boramae relies on certain imported technologies, such as the F414 turbojet from the American General Electric, the same one which equips the Super Hornets or the Gripen E/F, or like certain munitions, such as the European Meteor missile, the feat achieved by South Korean engineers commands respect.

If the development of the fighter was carried out at full speed, it was also the case of flight tests, planned to last only 43 months, or just over three and a half years, the first flight of the device having taken place in July 2023. Confidence is therefore there for DAPA, which will not wait the end of the test campaign in 2026, to order standard devices, and thus meet the growing needs of the South Korean air forces.

Characteristics and performance of the KF-21 Boramae

With an empty mass of 11,8 tonnes, a length of 16,9 meters for a wingspan of 11,2 meters and a wing area of ​​46,5 m², the KF-21 operates in the same category as the Rafale French.

Its two GE414 turbojets each develop 6 tonnes of dry thrust, and 10 tonnes with afterburner, allowing it to reach a maximum take-off mass of 25,6 tonnes, with 7,7 tonnes of ammunition and external canisters under the wings and 6 tons of internal fuel.

As the Rafale, the Boramae is given to reach a maximum speed of mach 1,8, and a combat range of around 1000 km. If its shapes are reminiscent of those of the F-35, it is not, however, a stealth fighter, but simply discreet.

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