South Korean defence prime Hanwha Aerospace announced in late November that it has signed a ₩473.1 billion contract with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) for the supply of critical production parts for the KF-21 Boramae programme.
According to the company, some of these components include the indigenously developed auxiliary power unit (APU), as well as fuel, propulsion, and landing system parts. The company also earlier in June signed a contract with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) for the supply of aircraft engines.
The KF-21 Boramae will replace the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF)’s F-4E Phantom II fleet, which was officially retired at Suwon Air Base on 7 June, marking the end of 55 years of RoKAF Phantom F4D/E operations.
The RoKAF originally operated around 220 Phantoms in three different versions during the type’s heyday: the F-4D, RF-4C and F-4E. Most were ex-United States Air Force (USAF) aircraft, with the exception of two tranches of F-4Es acquired under the Peace Pheasant I and II Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programmes.
The indigenously developed KF-21 is a direct replacement for the Phantom. Earlier in mid-2023, DAPA announced that the KF-21 programme had passed a “provisional combat suitability evaluation” that paves the way for initial production of the new aircraft.
The announcement comes after two years of extensive ground-based and flight trials following the rollout of the first prototype in April 2021 and the type’s maiden flight in July 2022. DAPA noted that the milestone will enable plans to develop the necessary production capability for initial aircraft manufacturing to proceed.
KAI has made steady progress on the KF-21’s development, with other recent successes including weapons release and firing evolutions in March and early April 2023.
by Jr Ng
