Indonesia to provide S. Korea with new payment schedule for joint fighter project in June: DAPA chief
All News 18:00 May 10, 2023
SHARE LIKE SAVE PRINT
FONT SIZE
By Chae Yun-hwan
SACHEON, South Korea, May 10 (Yonhap) -- Indonesia will provide South Korea with a new timetable for its payments for the joint KF-21 fighter project by late next month, the head of Seoul's state arms procurement agency has said, in a development expected to ease concerns over its unpaid share of the program's costs.
Eom Dong-hwan, minister of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), told reporters of the plan Tuesday, as Indonesia resumed payments for the project last November for the first time in nearly four years.
As a partner country, Indonesia has agreed to shoulder about 20 percent of the project's total development cost amounting to 8.8 trillion won (US$6.5 billion). But it had halted payments from January 2019 to last November, raising questions over its commitment to the advanced warplane project.
The country is estimated to have over 800 billion won in unpaid amount for the project scheduled for initial completion by 2026.
A prototype of the KF-21 fighter jet under development bearing the flags of South Korea and Indonesia moves out of a hangar at the headquarters of Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. in Sacheon, 437 kilometers south of Seoul, on May 9, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
"(Indonesia) has promised to notify South Korea of its payment plan for the remaining amount by late June," Eom said during a media event at the headquarters of Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI), the country's sole aircraft maker, in Sacheon, 437 kilometers south of Seoul.
"In order to ensure the payment plan proceeds normally next month, our project chief is scheduled to visit Indonesia soon for talks with high-level defense officials on its details," he added.
Eom acknowledged the financial burden Indonesia is likely to face considering the project's deadline but noted that the country made a payment of around 400 billion won in late February.
"We plan to manage such issues so that it does not disrupt the KF-21's development," he said.
Meanwhile, KAI CEO Kang Goo-young said the company is on track to deliver the first batch of FA-50 light attack aircraft to Poland, with a roll-out ceremony for the first model to be held on June 7.
KAI signed a deal last year to supply 48 FA-50s to the country amid Warsaw's efforts to replace its aging warplanes in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"The first and second FA-50s will be sent in late July so that they can be assembled in Poland in early August and be able to conduct flights from mid-August," he said.
Under the deal, KAI will deliver 12 FA-50 "gap filler" models to the country by the end of this year and 36 FA-50 PL models, equipped with the advanced active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and other upgrades, from 2025 to 2028.
This photo shows a prototype of the KF-21 fighter jet under development at the headquarters of Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. in Sacheon, 437 kilometers south of Seoul, on May 9, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
During Tuesday's event, reporters were given close looks at KAI's fighter jets, including a demonstration of a KF-21 prototype being equipped with mock air-to-air missiles.
A group of engineers swiftly fastened two dummy air-to-air missiles -- a beyond-visual-range Meteor and a short-range AIM-2000 -- on prototype No. 1 parked at a hangar just minutes away from the company's assembly lines.
Since the KF-21's maiden flight in July last year, South Korea has staged over 200 test flights with four prototypes and the aircraft has achieved supersonic speeds and has staged armament tests.
"Guided launches (for the missiles) are scheduled to take place in the second half of 2025," Cha Myung-su, a senior test pilot at KAI, told reporters.
The fifth KF-21 prototype will make its first flight next week and the sixth one by the end of next month, according to KAI officials.
DAPA plans to stage some 2,000 test flights in total with the six prototypes by 2026.
On the back of the steady progress, DAPA seeks to sign a mass production contract for the aircraft next year, with Eom vowing to swiftly complete a "provisional" combat suitability test for the aircraft as part of efforts to finalize the mass production plan.
Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI) workers equip a mock AIM-2000 air-to-air missile on the wing of a KF-21 prototype at a hangar in the company's headquarters in Sacheon, 437 kilometers south of Seoul, on May 9, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
By Chae Yun-hwan SACHEON, South Korea, May 10 (Yonhap) -- Indonesia will provide South K...
en.yna.co.kr
