Korean aviation industry has great ambitions and hopes to surpass the top with the help of launching the KF-21 stealth fighter project. If we follow the viewpoint of Korean , this is the second fifth-generation aircraft in Asia after J-20. Now the project has encountered many problems. According to the US media "Military Observation", the KF-21 stealth fighter project is in trouble. South Korea is full of confidence and claims that it is not inferior to J-20 in performance, but the implementation has exposed two major weaknesses.
Indian media has paid attention to the dilemma of KF-21
First of all, there are still problems in technology. Looking back, this project has been widely promoted by South Korea, but after the prototype is completed, the relevant reports seem to be becoming more and more low-key. In July, before the first flight was completed, publicity reports were significantly lower, and almost flight tests were conducted in a very low-key state. According to the Indian media Eurasian Times, due to doubts about the success of the flight, no formal ceremony was held for the test. The five prototypes are planned to be used to enter flight testing from October, involving 2,000 flights, and development is expected to be completed in 2026. This statement is quite different from previous reports in South Korea. In 2026, it is not about completing the test, but about starting service.
Koreans want to compete with J-20?
In this state, people have to wonder whether this fighter can be comparable to the J-20? The entire project is assembled machines, and many systems and equipment rely on supply from other countries, such as: the engine belongs to the United States, and South Korea is just a system integration. India also wanted to get a modern fighter in this way. No wonder the Eurasian Times gave the KF-21 stealth fighter a very interesting positioning: the glorious "challenger" is equated with India's own LCA fighter. If you study it, there are many similarities between the two. They are all advanced models that are eager to launch under unstable foundations, with extremely high indicators. Everyone knows what the status of LCA, so can South Korea go smoothly?
South Korea and Indonesia jointly developed, but Indonesia does not pay...
Secondly, whether the R&D funds can be guaranteed, South Korea's total investment in this project is about 8.8 trillion won, which is about 6.15 billion US dollars, but the research and development of modern fighter jets is not a high cost, and it can even be said to be a bit too cheap. However, considering the actual situation of this project, it is inevitable that it will be bumpy and bumpy, and overspending will be a very normal thing.
What embarrasses South Korea the most now is that Indonesia is unreliable. South Korea wanted to turn it into an international project at the beginning of the project, but in the end it only took Indonesia to participate. However, Indonesia's attitude so far has been quite problematic. Although the public's public promise sounds very nice, it has never paid R&D funds to the South Korean side according to the contract. Indonesia should bear 20% of the funding of the entire project, but so far it has been in a state of default.
KF-21's first flight was too hasty, and there was no movement in the future
According to the Eurasian Times, Koreans were too happy too early. The KF-21 stealth fighter project has been in trouble and lack of money has become a problem. As of July, Indonesia's defaulted on R&D funds was at least US$557 million. Although South Korea said: "Although they may not pay in full in one lump sum, we hope they will proceed step by step." However, the situation is still not optimistic. Since the first flight of the prototype, South Korea is happy that after three months, Indonesia has beaten South Korea with a blow. Indonesia does not want to pay at all. According to the information provided by the US media "Military Observation", Indonesia will pay 6 million US dollars in October and in 2023, it will pay another 33 million US dollars, far lower than the contract reservation. From this situation, it is too likely that Indonesia will break the contract by cooperating to build a fifth-generation aircraft or giving up halfway. Why? Not to mention that Indonesia has no money, I can only say that I have no confidence in South Korea, Indonesian aviation has low technical level, but its vision is not low, and many things I have come into contact with, let alone others have poor vision.
Glorious "Challenger"? This positioning is very interesting
Judging from its R&D experience, it is obviously a fat man who is slapped in the face! It is planned to directly challenge the fifth-generation machine technology without complete independent research and development experience.Since its launch, there have been many problems, and there are problems with excessive indicators. South Korea has to build its own fifth-generation aircraft comparable to the J-20. The level of the J-20 is not low, and even the Americans have to regard it as a great enemy. The Koreans hope to target the J-20. This is a good mentality and courageous to provoke, but is it technically feasible? Not to mention, Korean netizens even made wild comments, saying that the 10 J-20Bs are not afraid of coming. This remark was that when the prototype first flew in July, the domestic public opinion reported in South Korea.
KF-21 will be mass-produced first before
No matter what, South Korea hopes that the KF-21 stealth fighter will succeed. Chengdian wants to "play a big knife" in front of the J-20, but the reality is far less easy. South Korea lacks more than experience in advanced research and development, and many things are blank. It was full of confidence, but now it is not an accident. In fact, the American media have long understood that according to the statement of "Military Observation", it is simply not comparable. The research and development of modern fighter jets is very difficult. South Korea has a bit of an overtaking on a curve, so it is normal to encounter problems, and failure is not an accident.
