President Lee Jae Myung delivers congratulatory remarks during a rollout ceremony for the first mass-produced KF-21 fighter jet at Korea Aerospace Industries in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, March 25. Joint Press Corps

The Korean-made KF-21 Boramae fighter jet has received final combat suitability approval, marking a major milestone for the country’s indigenous fighter aircraft program after more than a decade of development.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Thursday that the KF-21 Block-I, the air-to-air combat variant of the aircraft, passed the final stage of system development after completing extensive testing and evaluation.

The approval process involves DAPA submitting the evaluation results to the Ministry of National Defense, with the defense minister making the final decision.

The approval follows nearly three years of additional testing conducted after the aircraft received a provisional combat suitability assessment in May 2023. According to DAPA, the KF-21 satisfied the Air Force’s required operational capability standards and demonstrated sufficient stability and technical reliability for missions in actual combat conditions.

Officials said the latest approval effectively confirms that the aircraft can be deployed for operational use and represents the completion of verification for all major performance requirements of the Block-I platform.

Development of the fighter began in December 2015. Since the first round of testing started in May 2021, the aircraft has undergone a wide range of ground and flight evaluations through February this year.

DAPA said the KF-21 completed more than 1,600 test flights covering roughly 13,000 flight test conditions, including aerial refueling and weapons release tests. The evaluations also examined structural integrity, durability and flight performance.

Noh Ji-man, head of DAPA’s KF-21 program office, said the final combat suitability approval was the result of close cooperation among the military, government agencies and industry partners, including the Korea Aerospace Industries and the Agency for Defense Development.

“The approval demonstrates that Korea has fully secured its own fighter jet development capability,” Noh said in a statement.

Source: Korea Times News