[Interview File] The KF-X, a Korean-made fighter of all time, blocks the road ahead of the US F-15EX... Urgently needed to reinforce poor'arming'

▲ An imagination of the KF-X flying over the Korean Peninsula

The Korean fighter KF-X, a Korean-made fighter with a cost of 8.8 trillion won, will be officially launched at the beginning of this month.

It's an event called roll out.

It is a meaningful place to pledge the success of KF-X by releasing the first fully assembled prototype to the public.

The KF-X rollout was originally scheduled to be held in May.

It was pulled several times after twists and turns, and the final adjustment was made earlier this month.

Although it is a 20% share participant, Indonesia's participation in VIPs, which not only does not pay a share and makes an unreasonable reverse proposal, has not been confirmed until recently, I was a bit uneasy.

With the Indonesian defense minister coming to Korea, the rollout has managed to come up with an assortment.

Meanwhile, an ambush appeared on the KF-X.

Too powerful for an ambush.

This is Boeing's latest fighter F-15EX.

In line with the performance improvement plan of our Air Force's flagship F-15K, the introduction of the F-15EX lifted its head, and the rumors are gradually taking off.

The US side has been widely debated about reducing the cost of upgrading the F-15K, which is an astronomical amount, and introducing dozens of F-15EXs to the Korean Air Force as a counter-payment.

Still, in order to improve the performance of fighter planes that are not enough, the F-15K is escaping from power, and the logic to fill the gap by introducing a new F-15EX is spreading.

Assuming that the F-15 is the 4th generation and the F-15EX is the 4.5th generation fighter, the KF-X belongs to the 4.5th generation, the same as the F-15EX.

We are developing 4.5 generations domestically with enormous defense expenditures, but the idea to buy the latest 4.5 generations made in the U.S. comes out, but it is red bean cake in the middle of the night.

When the F-15EX enters our air force's fighter assortment, the number of mass production of the same 4.5th generation KF-X will decrease.

As the price rises, export competitiveness also declines.

It may lead to the failure of the KF-X business.

Experts say that only speed and armament are the way to live.

Development timetable The plan to mount air-to-ground armament at the end of the development timetable is to be applied from the first mass production to launch the KF-X fully armed with air-to-air and air-to-ground as early as a day.

It is necessary to equip the KF-X as soon as possible to make the KF-X successful while avoiding the Boeing offensive.

5 trillion won bill for performance improvement and rapid rise of F-15EX

Our Air Force's flagship F-15K is also outdated, so the time has come to improve its performance.

The main target is the replacement of avionics equipment, such as replacing the old-fashioned radar with an all-weather Aesa (AESA) radar.

According to the Radiation Administration and the Air Force, it is a performance improvement in three or four major categories, and the cost estimated by the US is over 5 trillion won.

If there is no overcharge, it costs KRW 90 billion per F-15K.

These days, the price of the F-35A has fallen to less than KRW 900 billion, but the cost of improving the performance of one fourth-generation fighter is the price of one fifth-generation fighter.

Of course, it will be overpriced.

It is said that up to 3.4 trillion won is possible.

But it's not a pure price cut.

An official from the Air Force explained that "3.4 trillion won is the cost of upgrading the F-15K while introducing 20 Boeing F-15EXs."

In this case, it is KRW 3.4 trillion for the improvement of the F-15K's performance, and KRW 2 trillion for the introduction of 20 F-15EXs.

Combined, it is 5,400 billion won.

It is very similar to the cost of upgrading the F-15K originally called by the United States.

Somehow, it seems like an operation on the American side.

As the US side, the Air Force, and the Radiation Administration are communicating in this way, unfortunately, articles highlighting the usefulness of the F-15EX are coming out from influential media.

"The F-35A is too expensive to maintain and the software is flawed, so it is rejected even in the United States," and "The United States is thus paying attention to the latest version of the F-15 EX, which can be equipped with enormous armament."

That's right.

In particular, in the Korean peninsula with a short depth of field, there are many analyzes that the F-15 is much more efficient than the F-35A, attracting the ear.

It is also heard that the fighter division at Boeing headquarters in the U.S. sent a budget to promote fighter jets to Boeing Korea.

If Boeing Korea promotes a fighter, there is only one target, the F-15EX.

Overall, rather than discussing the introduction of the F-15EX with the air force's complaint, it is the appearance that Boeing of the United States is raising the Korean air force's unrest instead.

There seems to be an unprecedented case in which a foreign company raises the Korean defense disturbance.

Poor KF-X armament

The advantage of the F-15EX is its armament.

The armament load is a whopping 13.4 tons.

It outperforms the 11-ton F-15 and the 8-ton F-35A, as well as carrying more missiles and bombs than quite a few bombers.

When the monster armed F-15EX enters, the same 4.5 generation KF-X cannot succeed.

This is even more so with the current KF-X development timetable.

KF-X plans to build 40 units for the first car from 2026 to 2028, and 80 units for the second car by 2032.

Only air-to-air armament is installed in the primary production Block-1.

Air-to-ground armament begins with the second mass production block-2 (Block-2).

The air-to-air-only KF-X Block-1 is just a half fighter compared to the F-15EX.

You must get KF-X Block-2 to give out a business card to the F-15EX.

At least eight years later, it's a distant future.

If F-15K is pushed for performance improvement cost cuts, KF-X will be pushed to F-15EX even though it will be on the'Gukpon' in terms of shit.

Given the cause of stable management of US-Korea relations, the F-15EX becomes invincible in the Korean peninsula market.

KF-X's Achilles Gun, long-range air-to-ground missiles are being developed independently.

The Defense Science Research Institute (ADD) was developing with LIG Nex1, but now, the Radiation Administration is pursuing development under the initiative of the company, excluding ADD.

Long-range air-to-ground missiles with a range of several hundred kilometers typically take more than 15 years to develop.

There is no time for that.

It is armed to armed.

The KF-X has no choice but to strengthen its armament.

Block-1 is equipped with air-to-air as well as long-range air-to-ground armament.

Arm the KF-X

If there is a shortcut to strengthening the KF-X armament, it must be that way.

If the Taurus, the current long-range air-to-ground missile of the Korean Air Force, is directly integrated into the KF-X, it is said that from Block-1 in 2026, the 4.5-generation KF-X, fully armed with air-to-ground and air-to-air, can be released.

Officials in the aviation industry affirm that "It is not difficult to integrate the Eisa radar for fighter aircraft and the long-distance air-to-ground Taurus to be mounted on Block-1" and "It is possible to integrate the Taurus and KF-X in up to a year and a half."

ADD is planning to independently develop Taurus in Korea with technical support from Taurus, Germany, and this is another notable attempt.

The air-to-air missiles of the KF-X are medium-range Meteor and short-range IRIS-T.

In particular, the Meteor has a long range of 200 km and is extremely fast thanks to the ducted rocket suitable for supersonic flight.

It is a representative air-to-air plane that is difficult for enemy fighters to evade.

The Taurus is a surface-to-air missile capable of flying 500 km at a low altitude to avoid intercepts and penetrate bunkers.

Armed with Meteor and Taurus, the KF-X is comparable to the 4.5th generation.

Block-2 is late.

Starting from Block-1, you must wear a long-range air-to-ground taurus.

The poorly armed fighters are being abandoned by the air forces of each country.

Britain is about to retire 24 air-to-air-only Eurofighter Trench-1s.

It can be improved so that it can be equipped with air-to-ground armament, but it costs a lot of money to throw away a fighter that has been in operation for only 20 years.

The British are also looking to adopt traditional Harrier fighters instead of the F-35B as a carrier for aircraft carriers.

It is also because of the armed forces.

These days, Indonesia and Ukraine are also looking for French Rafael fighters, which is the reason for the great armament.

Malaysia and the Philippines are calling for strengthening of air-to-ground and air-to-air armament while considering the introduction of the FA-50 light attack aircraft by the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI).

KF-X is a super-sized gambling that already has a lot of stakes.

It cannot be reversed.

You have to succeed somehow.

In deciding on the mass production plan for 2024, it is necessary to confirm the fast track of the block-1 long-range air-to-ground missile integration prior to this.

Once again, the KF-X without air-to-ground armament is not welcome overseas as well as domestically.