The global star of defense industry developments was undoubtedly the aviation sector. Especially since 2020, the race between countries to build 5th generation fighter jets has attracted great attention. In addition to all these, some countries also produce derivative aircraft. KF-21, produced in partnership with South Korea and Indonesia, is one of them. Here are the details of the KF-21 fighter jet, whose testing process is ongoing…
South Korea continues KF-21 tests! First delivery in 2026!
As a result of the partnership between South Korea and Indonesia, the KF-21 project was launched for the Korean Air Force and Indonesian Air Force fleets. Both air force fleets generally consisted of F-4 and F-5 type aircraft. The aim is to make the fleet younger by replacing these aircraft, which are tired over the years, with the KF-21.
A total of 6 prototypes have been developed so far for the KF-21, which went into production within the scope of the project that started in 2015. It is very difficult to compete with 5th generation aircraft such as F-35. However, it should be noted that the aircraft has advanced avionics, precision weapons and AESA radar. It is possible to say that it is an F-22 derivative in terms of body type and size, and an F-35 derivative in terms of the technologies it contains.
The plane did not receive sufficient attention in the world press. Because the KF-21 was not developed as a rival to 5th generation aircraft such as the F-35. Airplane 4.5. It is called generation. For this reason, the world press preferred to provide intermediate information rather than focusing on KF-21. However, it should be noted that the plane is more important than expected. It is necessary to remind that the KF-21 is a derivative of the F-22 and that this aircraft can perform critical maneuvers thanks to its light weight.
As we mentioned above, a total of 6 prototypes were produced for the aircraft, which will be first delivered in 2026. The aircraft, whose tests are still ongoing, was recently successfully tested for air refueling from the South Korean Air Force’s A330 Multi-Purpose Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft. Let us point out that, based on the friendly relations with South Korea, it is likely that we will see KF-21s in the Turkish Air Force fleet.