ADEX 2019: KAI reveals full-scale KFX mock-up

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has revealed a full-scale mock-up of its Korean Fighter Experimental (KFX) aircraft at the Seoul International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition (ADEX) 2019.

The KFX mock-up in the final stages of assembly ahead of its official unveiling planned for 15 October. (IHS Markit / Gareth Jennings)

The model, which is due to be revealed on the official opening day of the event on 15 October, was seen in the final stages of assembly during the press day on 14 October. Its appearance at the biennial event follows the successful critical design review (CDR) in September for the ‘fifth-generation’ fighter for the aircraft that KAI is developing in partnership with Lockheed Martin and with investment from Indonesia.

The KFX fighter concept was first revealed by South Korea’s Defence Acquisition Programme Administration (DAPA) in 2010. Indonesia joined the project in 2012, with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) covering joint development of the platform that Jakarta refers to as IFX.

While initial operational capability (IOC) for the KFX/IFX was planned for 2023, budgetary constraints and concerns over technical risk prompted KAI to re-align the programme from a ‘fifth-generation’ fighter into a less sophisticated ‘4.5-generation’ fighter. In practice, this meant moving away from a large single-seat, multirole stealth aircraft with twin engines, active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, and internal weapons carriage, to a single-engine design using data, systems, and avionics developed for KAI's FA-50 Fighting Eagle, which was itself a development of the T-50 Golden Eagle lead-in fighter trainer. However, in July 2014 the Ministry of National Defence reversed this decision and instead confirmed that KFX would go ahead as a full-up fifth-generation platform based on the original twin-engined design.