SoKor Joins Supersonic Fighter Club With Its KF-21 Jet

South Korea's homegrown KF-21 Boramae fighter jet flew for the first time on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, putting the country among the few nations to have developed and flown an advanced supersonic fighter, Brad Lendon and Yoonjung Seo reported for CNN.

Photo Insert: The KF-21 is planned to be armed with a spectrum of air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles — and maybe even air-launched cruise missiles.

The prototype jet took a 33-minute round trip flight from an air force base in the southern city of Sacheon, said South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). The pilot, Maj. Ahn Jun-hyun, admitted to being nervous beforehand, but said that after take-off "everything went smoothly so I flew the whole flight route as planned."

The prototype jet took a 33-minute round trip flight from an air force base in the southern city of Sacheon, said South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).

The pilot, Maj. Ahn Jun-hyun, admitted to being nervous beforehand, but said that after take-off "everything went smoothly so I flew the whole flight route as planned."

A total of 120 planes are expected to be deployed to the South Korean air force by 2030. Once operational, the KF-21 is planned to be armed with a spectrum of air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles — and maybe even air-launched cruise missiles. The twin-engine fighters will come in single- and two-seat configurations.

On Tuesday, the plane was armed with four mock-up Meteor air-to-air missiles and an infrared search-and-track system, and reached speeds of roughly 400 kilometers per hour (250 mph) (250 mph).

South Korean President Yoon Seok Yeol said the test flight was "a splendid achievement in national defense independence."

The KF-21 is a cooperative project between South Korea and Indonesia in which Seoul has 80 percent of shares. While only 65 percent of the KF-21's parts are of South Korean origin, its maiden flight nonetheless marks a notable achievement for a country that doesn't have a rich history of aircraft production.

The only other countries to have built and flown an advanced supersonic jet fighter are the United States, Russia, China, Japan, France, Sweden and a European consortium of the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain.

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