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South Korea has formally decided to receive some technology support from Israel for the development of an advanced radar system in its KF-X fighter jet program, Seoul's arms procurement agency said Tuesday. The state-run Agency for Defense Development signed a contract with an Israeli defense firm on testing an active electronically scanned array radar being developed by a South Korean company, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. "It's about technology support related to the operation test of a prototype radar, not the development itself," the DAPA said. A model picture of a KF-X fighter jet in a file photo...

An artist's conception of the indigenous fighter jet, dubbed the KF-X / Courtesy of Korea Aerospace Industries The nation's heavy dependence on U.S. weapons has reemerged in its indigenous fighter jet development project as the state arms procurement agency and the aircraft maker are apparently seeking steady progress by using familiar U.S. products rather than choosing a new path. But critics are raising concerns that the overdependence on the Washington's products and technologies could put Korea into an unfavorable position in the future when exporting jets. The so-called KF-X project is aimed at locally developing twin-engine combat jets equipped with...

SEONGNAM, Gyeonggi - Despite the recent controversy about Washington’s refusal to transfer technologies essential to building advanced fighter jets, Korea has already managed to develop some of the required systems, the JoongAng Ilbo learned Thursday. Washington informed Seoul in April that it would not issue licenses for the transfer of four technologies considered crucial for Korea’s project to develop new multirole fighters with more advanced capabilities. Under the KF-X program, the government planned to invest a total of 18.4 trillion won ($16.2 billion) to develop 120 jets by 2025. The U.S. rejection of the technology transfer was considered a major...

Concerns are growing that the KF-X project to develop indigenous fighter jets may not go forward as scheduled due to the failure to receive four core technologies on F-35 stealth fighters from Lockheed Martin. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said that the nation will push for cooperation with other foreign firms or autonomously develop the technologies. However, a DAPA official said Thursday that this would consequently delay the 8.5 trillion won project, codenamed KF-X. Lawmakers on the National Assembly Defense Committee and defense watchers said the failure to receive the four would cause a rise in production costs as...

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has displayed two conceptual models for the country’s proposed KFX indigenous fighter programme at the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition. One model represents KAI’s in-house proposal for the programme, while the other represents the ambitions of Seoul’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD). KAI’s proposal is for a single-engined aircraft based largely on systems developed for the country’s T-50 advanced jet trainer. The company feels that this approach would be more cost effective and draw from its experience with the T-50, which had extensive design input from Lockheed Martin. Greg Waldron/Flightglobal The ADD concept is a...

SEOUL AIR SHOW: KF-X vision unveiled In a seminar today at the Seoul Air Show, South Korean government officials outlined the strategy and plans for the KF-X, a twin-engined stealth fighter with a design goal of achieving manoeuvrability, speed and range performance between a Lockheed Martin F-16 and a Boeing F-15. South Korea wants to develop the KF-X over the next nine years, with mass production beginning after 2020. Indonesia has already joined the programme, and talks with Turkey are continuing. If developing an all-new stealth fighter is not enough of a challenge, South Korea also intends to equip the...

Korea awaits new partner for $5 bil. fighter program By Lee Tae-hoon The door is open for another country or foreign firm to participate in Seoul’s initiative to develop a new combat aircraft with a budget of $5 billion, defense officials here said. “Many countries, including the United Arab Emirates, have shown interest in investing in the project,” Noh Dae-rae, head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration Commissioner, said Tuesday. “We are planning to allow another country with the most attractive offer to join the KF-X program.” The KF-X program refers to the multirole fighter development program that Seoul has...

Asia’s Next Fighter Project July 14, 2011 By Trefor Moss Indonesia and South Korea are working on a new fighter, the KFX. But is there really any need for the programme? An international consortium for the development of an advanced fighter aircraft? It sounds familiar – and the precedent isn’t encouraging. The programme to build the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) involving the United States and eight other countries has become a cautionary tale over the complexity and runaway expense of developing a next-generation fighter aircraft, even with the economies of scale that multinational participants are meant to...

Indonesia-South Korea Fighter Jet Deal Readies for Take-Off Amid Expert Doubts Ismira Lutfia | July 12, 2011 Indonesia has taken a huge gamble in a deal with South Korea to manufacture a new type of fighter plane, an expert warned on Monday, with a real risk that the project could end in disaster. “The aim for transfer of technology is positive, but there is a basic problem in it,” said Connie Bakrie, a defense analyst from the University of Indonesia. “Will it be a cheaper and better fighter? Why don’t we buy planes already in operation?” The warning came as...

The South Korean government and military are considering developing stealth aircraft by 2015 as part of the country's fighter development program. Citing an unnamed military source, Yonhap News Agency reported on Monday that North Korea's deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island last month has bolstered support among officials in Seoul for pursuing stealth aircraft technology. The possession of stealth aircraft beyond the North's detection capabilities could apply great psychological pressure on the regime, the source said, and allow the South to match the military technology of advanced nations

Seoul may revive development program for stealth fighter jets By Na Jeong-ju The military is considering developing its own stealth fighters by 2020 to counter North Korea’s military threats more effectively, according to media reports Monday. Under a multi-billion-dollar project, codenamed “KF-X,” Seoul plans to develop indigenous, multi-role fighter jets by 2020. However, the military is shifting the focus of the project to building stealth fighters in the wake of North Korea’s Nov. 23 artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island that killed two marines and two civilians. “The basic concept of the program is being changed to develop a stealth fighter...

Turkey to build ‘national, original’ fighter aircraft Thursday, December 16, 2010 ÜMİT ENGİNSOY ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News Turkey's top defense procurement committee decided late Wednesday that Ankara would develop and manufacture its next air-to-air fighter aircraft, either by itself or in cooperation with another country, Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül said. Gönül told reporters after a meeting of the Defense Industry Executive Committee that the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, Turkey's procurement agency, would start talks with Turkish Aerospace Industries, the country's main aerospace company, for a "conceptual design" of a fighter aircraft and a jet trainer to be built after...

Tokyo, Seoul Mull Advanced Fighters Oct 1, 2010 By Bradley Perrett Tokyo Japan’s defense ministry sees a sixth-generation manned fighter with counter-stealth capability for the 2030s, while South Korea is trying to form a consortium of developing countries to field an affordable fighter in the 2020s, positioning it between the Lockheed Martin F-16 and F-35. The Japanese sixth-generation fighter concept, called i3 (informed, intelligent and instantaneous), has seven features that the defense ministry regard as crucial for the fighter to be effective against potential opponents, according to the ministry’s Future Fighter Research & Development Vision, released on Aug. 25. One...

[Exclusive] Turkey could join Korea’s fighter plan By Jung Sung-ki GYEONGJU, North Gyeongsang Province ― Turkey has shown a strong interest in joining Korea’s KF-X fighter development plan, after having already won investment from Indonesia, a chief of the military's aircraft programs said. Maj. Gen. Choi Cha-kyu, director general of the aircraft program bureau at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), said during a forum here Tuesday that Ankara is seriously considering participating in the KF-X program to replace its 180 older F-16 aircraft by 2020. “Turkey’s air force operates about 180 F-16 aircraft, and there will be a requirement...

Indonesia agreed on Thursday to join a South Korean project to develop a new fighter jet which has been delayed for years by technical and budget problems. Indonesia will acquire about 50 of the KF-X fighters in return for shouldering 20 percent of the development costs in the multi-million dollar project, the South Korean defense ministry said. The two sides also agreed to work together in production and marketing. The deal was signed in Seoul by Byun Moo-Keun, commissioner for the ministry’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), and his Indonesian counterpart Eris Herryanto. South Korea launched the project in 2000...

Indonesia and South Korea are getting ready to sign an MoU on the joint-development of a KFX fighter jet program (dubbed Boramae) later this year, following a letter of intent in March 2009 on Indonesian participation in a KFX study. When enacted, the MOU will provide a breakthrough for both countries in terms of bilateral defense collaboration and aircraft technology indigenization. The defense community and members of parliament believe that the cooperation will help the revitalization of the Indonesian defense industry. MPs urged the government to conduct a feasibility test before embarking on a US$2 billion venture that spans across...

Fighter Development Program Faces Crash By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter South Korea is likely to scrap an ambitious project to build its own version of a stealth fighter as it has been assessed as nonviable economically and technically, military sources said Sunday. The fighter development program, codenamed KF-X, aims to produce a multi-role fifth-generation aircraft suited to network-centric warfare after 2020 to replace outdated F-4Es and F-5Es and to market it globally. The Korea Development Institute (KDI) concluded last month that the KF-X program would not be affordable, according to the sources. The KF-X development would cost at least $10...