South Korea selects smart bombs, guidance kits for KF-X fighter

28 May 2020

South Korea has completed the selection process for the precision-guided munitions and guidance kits that it plans to integrate with its future Korean Fighter eXperimental (KF-X) multirole fighter aircraft.

South Korean military officials told Janes on 28 May that Raytheon’s GBU-12 Paveway II, Boeing’s GBU-31/38 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), GBU-54/56 Laser JDAM, and GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb1 (SDB1), as well as Textron’s Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) CBU‐105 had all been selected for integration with the KF-X, which is being developed by Korea Aerospace Industries, with PT Dirgantara Indonesia as KAI’s industry partner on the project.

They said the integration process for the smart bombs and guidance kits, all of which are already in service with the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF), will start later this year, with full integration expected over the coming 6-7 years.

A computer-generated image showing two KF-X fighter aircraft equipped with Meteor BVRAAMs, forward-looking infrared pods, and Joint Direct Attack Munitions.

The move comes after MBDA Missile Systems announced in November 2019 that it had been awarded a contract for the integration of its Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) with the KF-X.

Also set for integration is the IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missile (SRAAM) by Germany’s Diehl Defence, with a contract expected to be signed in the near future.

The aircraft will feature terrain following/terrain avoidance (TF/TA) systems from Israel’s Elbit Systems.

The Haifa-based company announced 6 February that it had been awarded a contract by Hanwha Systems, which itself is working on an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for the fighter, to equip the KF-X with its TF/TA systems under a USD43 million contract that is set to be fulfilled over a six-year period.