With South Korea successfully completing the Gen 5 KF-21 aircraft’s first test flight, the race to create the most technologically advanced fighter jet in the world has become even more intense.
The 3rd Flying Training Wing of the Air Force in Sacheon, some 300 kilometres south of Seoul, is where the warplane took off. With the arrival of the KF21, South Korea will join an exclusive group of seven countries, including India, the United States, China, France, Russia, Sweden, and European Consortium, that have developed their own supersonic fighter jets. To provide a cutting-edge multirole fighter for the air forces of South Korea and Indonesia, the KAI (Korean Aerospace Industry) KF-21 Boramae is jointly developed with Indonesia.
Due to a lack of equipment, some are referring to the Korean KF-21 Boramae, which claims to be a fifth generation fighter jet, as a 4.5 generation fighter jet. The Block 1 version of the jet successfully passed the test flight, leading detractors to label it as, at most, a 4.5 gen jet.
#BREAKING 🇰🇷🇮🇩 KF21 first Flight was successfully carried out
— Húrin (@intel1osint100) July 19, 2022
The Block 2 and Block 3 aircrafts that Korea is developing will be sufficiently advanced to compete with the F-35 or F-22. The plane will be Gen 6 compatible, according to Korea, and will include laser weaponry and artificial intelligence.
The only other manufacturers of fifth-generation jets are China with the J20, Russia with the Su-57, and the United States with two jets, including the F-35 and F22. There are a few 4.5 generation fighter jets, including the Tejas LCA from India and the Rafale from France. Five KF-21 prototypes have already been created by South Korea for testing, and the aircraft will be integrated into the Korean Air Force by 2026.
India’s AMCA Gen 5 fighter jet
India is also working quickly to replace foreign aircraft like the Dassault Rafale and Sukhoi Su-30 MKI as well as the soon-to-be-inducted Gen 4.5 fighter jet with home-built Gen 5 fighter jets for the Indian Air Force.
The AMCA would enable India to join a select group of nations that possess fifth-generation stealth jets, and it would be stealthy and have “super cruise” capabilities.
