The new car should be noticeably different from the rest of the existing ones in a number of parameters. It is assumed that it will also be exported, like a number of other advanced samples of South Korean weapons.
The aircraft company Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) on July 2 this year began ground testing of the KF-21 Borama (translated as "young bird of prey") in the city of Sacheon. So far, this is only the ground part — taxiing and jogging around the airfield. However, they are performed by a completely real first flight copy of the new fighter. In autumn, according to the plan, the first flights will follow.
The KF-21 Borama differs from existing aircraft of both the fourth and fifth generation. The fourth generation actively uses weapons on an external suspension, which allows such aircraft to carry a large range of weapons of serious mass. Fifth—generation aircraft are forced to carry weapons on an internal suspension - so it is less noticeable in the radio range. But the mass and number of weapons are sharply reduced at the same time. Let's say the first fifth-generation F-22 fighter could initially carry only six small missiles.
Video of the beginning of ground tests of the new fighter / ©Youtube
In order for such machines to have numerous means of destruction, it was necessary to design special missiles adapted to their internal compartments of dimensions. For example, this is the case with the Su-57, for which Russia has created a special X-38 cruise missile, as well as a number of other ammunition.
The Korean manufacturer decided to go a different way. Its aircraft are built taking into account the requirements of radio visibility, like fifth-generation fighters. At the same time, the basic version of the combat load for them is on an external suspension. It is claimed that in total at the points of the external suspension it will be able to carry up to 7.6 tons of bombs, missiles or outboard fuel tanks, increasing the range of the car. Such a load is quite at the level of the American F—35 and noticeably more than that of the F-22.
It is also often called the "4.5 generation fighter", since such an ideology of the aircraft means that in practice it will be radio-visible at the level of fourth-generation machines, but at the same time carry a radar with an AFAR (active phased array antenna) and software at the level of fifth-generation aircraft. There are also optical and thermal passive search and targeting systems for enemy aircraft.
Interestingly, the Koreans claim that the radar of their new car is better than that of Russian or Chinese aircraft. Meanwhile, today no country outside of Russia has accurate information about the capabilities of the Su-57 radars, which makes such statements unverifiable.
The developer also notes that the future modification of the KF-21 Block 2 will receive large compartments for internal placement of weapons: this will reduce its radio visibility to the level of F-117. KF-21 Block 3 will receive even less radio visibility, closer to the F-22.
©KAI
The big advantage of the KF-21 is often called its price, which is claimed to be lower than that of the F-35. Due to this, they plan to promote the aircraft in foreign markets — starting with Indonesia. In practice, the prospects of the aircraft are not entirely clear now.
If we proceed from the experience of air battles in Ukraine, it is not yet quite obvious that low visibility in the radio range really allows aircraft to actively operate in the field of someone else's air defense. If so, the fate of fifth-generation fighters may be difficult, because their low visibility limits other technical parameters of combat aircraft and significantly increases their price. It is possible that for future aircraft they will choose the path "in the middle" — between low visibility and other important parameters.
