South Korea's "self -developed" supersonic fighter successfully took the first flight: once seeking American technology was rejected by Indonesia or with palm oil to the joint research and development fee

On the afternoon of the 19th local time, KF-21 "Falcon" prototypes independently developed by South Korea successfully tested flights for the first time.

It is reported that the "Falcon" prototype did not fly at a supersonic speed, but took a test of 33 minutes at a speed of 400 kilometers per hour to check the basic aerodynamic performance. This successful test flight means that 6 existing KF-21 prototypes in South Korea will enter the comprehensive test flight stage. As of 2026, it will complete more than 2000 trial flights, and then put into mass production.

Some Korean media said that the successful test flight has made South Korea a country closer to the world's eighth successful development of supersonic fighters. However, the KF-21 "Falcon" fighter's R & D tests, mass production, safety, and economic benefits are still questioned.

↑ KF-21 fighter

In addition, because the R & D project of this fighter is jointly borne by South Korea and Indonesia, the Indonesian side has repeatedly delayed the payment of the payment, and may even use the real objects such as palm oil to get hundreds of billions of won.

"Handmade" assembled a prototype for 2 years, and once sought US technical support to be rejected

According to the South Korean Defense Department, at 3:40 pm on the 19th, the supersonic fighter KF-21 "Falcon" prototype successfully conducted the first test flight on the Air Force Base runway on Sichuan City, Qingshangnan Road. However, the "Falcon" did not fly at the supersonic speed on the day, but performed a 33 -minute round -trip flight at a speed of 400 kilometers per hour. At the same time, the body performance was tested. It is reported that the test flight plan was originally scheduled to be postponed on the morning of the same day, and was postponed until the afternoon due to weather and vision.

An Junxian, a South Korean pilot who participated in the test flight, said: "Until before the departure, my heart felt tremendous pressure. But during the process of rising to Sichuan, the flight followed the planning route smoothly."

↑ The engineer said that a prototype of "manual assembly" takes 2 years

It is reported that the KF-21 "Falcon" aims to replace the aging US-made F-4 and F-5 fighters. These two fighters were introduced from the United States in the 1960s. Local media reported that the "Falcon" fighter was about 11 meters wide and about 17 meters long. Different from the real stealth fighter, the "Falcon" only has a basic stealth machine. The body and wings use reflex angle arrangement technology to reduce the radar reflection area.

It is reported that it has been more than 20 years since then that the successful test flight has announced its own development of cutting -edge fighters in 2000. In 2015, the South Korean Defense Department and the country's only aircraft manufacturer South Korea Aviation and Aerospace Industry Corporation (KAI) signed this 8.8 trillion fighter R & D contract.

In the past six years, this task has encountered doubts about technical obstacles, cost and benefits, and other feasibility issues. At first, South Korea tried to obtain some key equipment from the United States, but it was forced to focus on the key technologies required for independent development due to negative requests.

Last year, South Korean Aerospace Industry Corporation disclosed the assembly line of the KF-21 fighter to the media, saying that almost all the assembly processes were completed by hand. "In order to improve and fill the loopholes, the process of disassembly, reasonsment and testing of the testing machine needs to be repeated countless times. The test flight of the test machine also needs to be performed after more than 1 year of ground testing." , "Manual assembly" a prototype takes 2 years, and the ground test takes about 1 year.

The R & D fee owed by Indonesia or uses "palm oil" to credits

It is reported that although the KF-21 "Falcon" fighter is independently developed by South Korea, the cost of this research and development project is allocated by South Korea and Indonesia. Only 65%of the assembly parts come from South Korea. According to the agreement between the two countries, during the fighter development stage as of 2026, the South Korean government bears 60%of R & D expenses, while the Indonesian government and South Korean aerospace industry have undertaken 20%(approximately 1.73 trillion won).

↑ On July 6, pilots and staff prepared for the first flight of the KF-21 fighter

It is reported that the Indonesian government initially decided to pay the funds as the condition, first obtaining a "Falcon" prototype and related technical materials from South Korean manufacturers, and then produced 48 fighters locally in Indonesia. However, Indonesia has delayed payment of project costs since the second half of 2017 on the grounds of "economic difficulties". In recent years, South Korea and India have launched a "tug -of -war" on the research and development of fighters, and have conducted many consultations.

As of November last year, Indonesia still had about 800 billion won in sharing project costs. It is reported that this delay may have something to do with the reasons such as the reasons for the reorganization of the weapon introduction system in the country. Considering that the sharing costs of Indonesia and the demand for purchasing are of vital significance, the South Korean Defense Institute claims that it has finally reached the final agreement with the Indonesian Ministry of Defense in mid -November.

According to this new agreement, since the KF-21 fighter has been identified as military materials since 2017, the exemption of VAT directly reduced Indonesia's "arrears" by 10 million won. At the same time, 30%(about 480 billion won) of the project cost of sharing projects does not have to be paid with cash, but instead represented it in physical matter.

Relevant sources of the South Korean Defense Institute said that the military demand, ordinary goods, mineral resources, and even palm oil can be used to offset this part of the cost, and the details and quantity details will be negotiated in the future. As of now, the Korean side has not disclosed what kind of physical items Indonesia has paid the cost. The new fighter selling road is facing challenges, or sold to Southeast Asia

It is reported that the research and development of the KF-21 fighter aircraft is not the first time in South Korea and Indonesia to carry out military cooperation projects. Earlier, the two countries have deepened their cooperative relationships through domestic coaching machine KT-1, supersonic senior trainer T-50, and submarine projects. But it is worth noting that the day before the KF-21 fighter was successfully tested, the T-50 trainer exported to Indonesia had a crash again.

At 19:00 on the 18th local time, a T-50i "Golden Eagle" fighter crashed in Blola, a T-50i "Golden Eagle" fighter was confirmed to be killed. As early as 2015, a T50 fighter in Indonesia crashed in aviation performances, and two pilots died on the spot.

In addition to the uncertainty of safety issues and mass production, the "sales" of the KF-21 fighter aircraft and economic benefits have also become a key challenge facing manufacturers. Some analysts said that South Korean aerospace industry companies only rely on 120 fighters in the Air Force to fail to meet the balance of revenue and expenditure, but need to produce and sell more than 300 fighters. If this manufacturer first supplies the KF-21 fighter to Indonesia and sells to Southeast Asian countries with Indonesia as a base, a certain export volume can ensure the "scale economy".

Another analysis pointed out that because the stealth performance of the KF-21 fighter is restricted, the Korean defense industry believes that there are only Southeast Asia and the Middle East with this purchase demand.

Red Star News reporter Hu Yiling

Edit Zhang Xun

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