KFX/IFX News and Development

[Indos]

 

[Agha Sher]

No internal weapon bays?

 

[Indos]

No internal weapon bays?

The final design has been made with internal weapon bay in mind. The internal weapon bay will be included in block 2 according to the plan. Despite that, according to DAPA Korea, the development of block 2 will be started in 2021, the time where first prototype is expected to be rolled out. So there is still chance that KFX Block 1 will only be produced for development only and mass production will be started from block 2.

 

[SgtGungHo]

The final design has been made with internal weapon bay in mind. The internal weapon bay will be included in block 2 according to the plan. Despite that, according to DAPA Korea, the development of block 2 will be started in 2021, the time where first prototype is expected to be rolled out. So there is still chance that KFX Block 1 will only be produced for development only and mass production will be started from block 2.

Not really. The internal weapon bay will be fitted in KFX only in Block 3. Mass production will start from Block 1. In fact, the first batch of KFX jets will be only good for BVR air to air combats with limited CAS capabilities.

 

[Indos]

Not really. The internal weapon bay will be fitted in KFX only in Block 3. Mass production will start from Block 1. In fact, the first batch of KFX jets will be only good for BVR air to air combats with limited CAS capabilities.

Can you provide some news that back your claim. My claim about block 2 using IWB is based on picture that show block 2 that has internal weapon bay and also KAI official statement that I posted in first page of this thread that say internal weapon bay will be inserted starting at block 2 or block 3.

 

[Indos]

COVID-19 delays Korea’s defense exports

By Kim Byung-wook

Published : May 26, 2020 - 16:57
Updated : May 26, 2020 - 16:57

Defense cuts amid pandemic push back payments for projects, hinder new contracts　

South Korea’s 18-trillion-won ($14 billion) fighter jet project is facing payment delays amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, while officials involved have assured it does not mean it is being shut down.

Korea Aerospace Industries -- the country’s only aircraft manufacturer -- is currently co-developing next-generation fighters with Indonesia.

Launched in 2016, the KF-X project aims to develop a next-generation fighter jet and mass-produce 180 units by 2026. The project, the biggest in Korean history, needs 8 trillion and 10 trillion won for development and mass production, respectively. Indonesia is responsible for 20 percent of the development costs, or 1.8 trillion won. However, it has been delaying its payments lately, with 500.2 billion won overdue as of April.

“Typically, defense contracts between military and defense companies involve collaterals. However, the KF-X project doesn’t include a collateral as it is a co-development project based on a memorandum of understanding, not a defense contract. Indonesia is supposed to pay its share on a yearly basis,” a military official said.

The MOU was signed in 2010 between Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the Indonesian military.

As the project lacks a collateral, there is no leverage to force Indonesia to meet the payment deadline. Under the deal, Indonesia will use 50 fighter jets, and Korea the rest.

“KAI is not in a position to comment on the budget status, but the next-generation fighter jet is being developed as planned and will be introduced by 2021,” a company official said.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering is another defense company affected by uncertainties from Indonesia.

Though Indonesia placed a purchase order worth $1 billion to DSME for manufacturing three 1,400-ton submarines in April last year, advance payments haven’t arrived yet.

“The Indonesian navy hasn’t paid advance payments yet, but once the payments are completed, it’s almost 100 percent Indonesia will pay the rest of the $1 billion deal as the country’s state-run Bank Mandiri stands surety,” a DSME official said.

http://m.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200526000847

 

[Indos]

@SgtGungHo

If the flight test for the first flying prototype show good and satisfying result I believe we dont need to make more prototype that can burden the development cost. The first prototype is needed for structural test and not flying while the second prototype is for flight testing and acquiring production license. At least we can just produce three prototypes for the test and acquiring production certificate just like what Indonesia does with its N 219 program who only has three prototype for testing and all of them posses similar design.

 

[NEKONEKO]

I think its needed to have more than just 3 prototype. Its to address technical problem that may be found on previous prototype.

 

[SgtGungHo]

@SgtGungHo

If the flight test for the first flying prototype show good and satisfying result I believe we dont need to make more prototype that can burden the development cost. The first prototype is needed for structural test and not flying while the second prototype is for flight testing and acquiring production license. At least we can just produce three prototypes for the test and acquiring production certificate just like what Indonesia does with its N 219 program who only has three prototype for testing and all of them posses similar design.

A fighter jet program is different to a military transport aircraft project as a fighter jet is essentially a flying platform that carries weapons and those missiles and bombs need to integrate into a fighter jet.

Block I of IFX/KFX is still a prototype in this regard. The jet would have only air-to-air combat capabilities and limited air-to-ground capabilities in Block I. KAI and Korean officials have been very clear on this subject. Their plan has been always about flying a functioning fighter jet as soon as possible and testing weapons in later stages.

I think the most challenging part for Indonesia as a Maritime Nation is the fact that integration of AGM-84 Harpoon won't be available until Block II unless Indonesia somehow does it by themselves after getting a source code from Korea.

 

[Indos]

28 MAY 2020 00:00 GMT+0

South Korea selects smart bombs, guidance kits for KF-X fighter

South Korea has completed the selection process for the precision-guided munitions and guidance kits that it plans to integrate with its future Korean Fighter eXperimental (KF-X) multirole fighter aircraft.

South Korean military officials told Janes on 28 May that Raytheon’s GBU-12 Paveway II, Boeing’s GBU-31/38 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), GBU-54/56 Laser JDAM, and GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb1 (SDB1), as well as Textron’s Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) CBU‐105 had all been selected for integration with the KF-X, which is being developed by Korea Aerospace Industries, with PT Dirgantara Indonesia as KAI’s industry partner on the project.

They said the integration process for the smart bombs and guidance kits, all of which are already in service with the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF), will start later this year, with full integration expected over the coming 6-7 years.

A computer-generated image showing two KF-X fighter aircraft equipped with Meteor BVRAAMs, forward-looking infrared pods, and Joint Direct Attack Munitions.

The move comes after MBDA Missile Systems announced in November 2019 that it had been awarded a contract for the integration of its Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) with the KF-X.

Also set for integration is the IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missile (SRAAM) by Germany’s Diehl Defence, with a contract expected to be signed in the near future.

The aircraft will feature terrain following/terrain avoidance (TF/TA) systems from Israel’s Elbit Systems.

The Haifa-based company announced 6 February that it had been awarded a contract by Hanwha Systems, which itself is working on an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for the fighter, to equip the KF-X with its TF/TA systems under a USD43 million contract that is set to be fulfilled over a six-year period.

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/da27bd71-e47e-4cf6-81aa-456bf5824514

 

[Indos]

KFX single engine design by KAI that is rejected. Look like using F 16 design as base design.

C 103 design with two engine that was developed by ADD Korea and PT Dirgantara Indonesia is then decided to be base of KFX design and later results in C 109 design that become a final design.

 

[Indos]

KFX CGI released by Korea Aerospace Industry (KAI)

 

[Indos]

GE Aviation delivers first F414 engine for South Korea’s KF-X fighter
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.

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.

 

[Indos]

 

[Indos]

05 June 2020 00:00 GMT+0

GE Aviation delivers first KF-X engine to Korea


General Electric (GE) Aviation has delivered to South Korea the first engine for the country’s KF-X indigenous future fighter development.

A full-scale mock-up of the KF-X fighter was revealed by KAI at the ADEX event in Seoul in late 2019. The operational aircraft will be powered by a pair of GE Aviation F414-GE-400K engines.

The US-based powerplant manufacturer announced the milestone on 4 June, noting that the first F414-GE-400K engine was delivered in May.

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) selected GE Aviation in May 2016 to partner on the KF-X project, with an initial 15 F414-GE-400K engines to be delivered by 2021 to power six testbed aircraft (plus three spares). The Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) is set to receive 120 KF-X aircraft, for which GE Aviation will provide 240 F414-GE-400K engines plus spares.

The KF-X fighter concept was first revealed by South Korea’s Defence Acquisition Programme Administration (DAPA) in 2010. Indonesia joined the project in 2012, with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) covering joint development of the platform that Jakarta refers to as IF-X.

As budgets have waxed and waned, the project has fluctuated from being a full-up ‘fifth-generation’ fighter into a less sophisticated ‘4.5-generation’ fighter, and back again. In its latest guise, KF-X will be twin-engined, low observable (LO), multirole combat aircraft equipped with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and internal weapons carriage.

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/60c0ec7b-6744-4af8-886f-61b96363480d

Something need to be fixed here, Indonesia joined KFX/IFX program in 2010 and the Joint Research Office is set up in Korea since that year.