KAI KF-21 Boramae makes first flight

The KAI KF-21 made its first flight from the Korea Aerospace Industries facility at Sacheon on 19 July 2022. KF-21 001 is the first of six flyable prototype aircraft to take to the air of which 001 to 004 are single-seaters and 005 and 006 twin seat aircraft.

The Boramae (Hawk) is a 4.5 generation fighter jet, so it probably has not all the stealth features. It originally was a joint project between South Korea and Indonesia, with 80% of the effort and costs done by Seoul, however the exact status of the Indonesian share is not very clear at the moment.

The aircraft is developed to replace the Republic of Korea Air Force fleet of F-4E Phantoms and the F-5/KF-5 Jegonghos (Tiger II).

Illustrations are stills from Republic of Korea Air Force video