Korea Aerospace Industries releases first serial KF-21 jet; Philippines among prospect customers
The primary aerospace company in Korea has successfully produced and released its flagship product – the KF-21 Boramae fighter aircraft.
After eleven (11) years of development, Korea Aerospace Industries has successfully unveiled and rollout its first serial production unit of its flagship product, the KF-21 Boramae on March 25, 2026.
In this news report written in Korean (archived version of the article accessible here), The aerospace company conducted the rollout ceremony in its production line in Sacheon, South Korea, whereby key guests include the President of the Republic of Korea Lee Jae-Myung.
The ceremony marks an official serial production phase of the Korean-developed fighter aircraft, aimed to cater the requirements set by the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF), effectively replacing its older F-4 Phantom and F-5 E/F Tiger II fighter jets that have already being put out of service.
Since its development, countries have already expressed interest in buying and securing this Korean-made flagship product of a fighter jet, whereby the country expands its defense industry, which now stands as the tenth (10th) largest arms exporter in the world based on the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute for 2020-2024, amounting for 2% of global sales.
Korea Aerospace Industries aims to export the fighter jets to countries starting with Indonesia, whereby this original co-developer still negotiates for the sale of at least sixteen (16) units of the KF-21 Boramae Block 2 variant to the said archipelagic Southeast Asian country. Other countries include Poland, the United Arab Emirates, and the Philippines.
The Philippine Air Force expressed interest on the KF-21 Boramae while it is still in development in 2023, and now has the Korean-developed and made fighter jet as one of the primary contenders to the Multi-role Fighter Jet Acquisition Program, competing against the likes of F-16 Block 70/72 Viper, JAS-39 Gripen E/F variant, and the Eurofighter Typhoon 2000.
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