The Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) KFX is a South Korean program to develop an advanced multirole fighter for the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) and Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU), spearheaded by South Korea with Indonesia as the primary partner. It is South Korea's second fighter development program following the FA-50.
First announced by South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung at the graduation ceremony of the Air Force Academy in March 2001. South Korea and Indonesia had agreed to cooperate in the production of KFX warplanes in Seoul on July 15, 2010. The initial operational requirements for the KFX program as stated by the ADD (Agency for Defence Development) were to develop a single-seat, twin-engine jet with stealth capabilities beyond either the Dassault Rafale or Eurofighter Typhoon, but still less than the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. The overall focus of the program is producing a fighter with higher capabilities than a KF-16 class fighter by 2020.
Spesifications KFX:
- Crew: 1
- Thrust: about 52,000lbs (F414 class x 2)
- Max Speed: about Mach 1.8
- Armament:
- M61 Vulcan
- AIM-9X class short-range AAM(AIM-9X class) (indigenous, under development)
- AIM-120 class beyond visual range AAM (not specified yet)
- 500lbs SDB class guided bomb|KGGB (indigenous)
- JCM class guided short range AGM (indigenous, under development)
- SSM-760K Haeseong ASM (indigenous)
- Boramae ALCM (indigenous, under development), or Taurus class ALCM
- supersonic ALCM (based on Yakhont technology) (indigenous, under development)
