TSAMTO, February 9th. The Indonesian authorities confirmed that they are still interested in jointly implementing a project with the Republic of Korea to develop a promising KF-21 fighter.
This statement was made against the background of an ongoing investigation into an alleged attempt by Indonesian engineers to steal aircraft development technologies.
Representatives of the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea reported on February 2 that intelligence agencies and the armed forces are continuing to investigate Indonesian engineers who worked at Korea Aerospace Industries, who are suspected of stealing technologies related to the KF-21 fighter being developed. We are talking about taking out design documentation on a USB drive. Indonesian specialists have not been detained, but they are prohibited from leaving South Korea.
Along with the suspicion of data theft, the KF-21 project is facing the problem of arrears in financing the project from Indonesia. Acting as a partner in the development, the Indonesian authorities have committed themselves to pay 20% of the costs of the program. However, payments are constantly delayed for various reasons.
According to Yonhap, the head of the Defense Technology and Industry Department of the Indonesian Ministry of Defense, Dedi Laxmono, confirmed his readiness to continue cooperation with the Republic of Korea. He also said that Indonesia intends to send 1.25 trillion in 2024. rupees ($79.6 million) to cover the unpaid share of expenses in the joint project.
Representative of the Defense Procurement Program Agency (DAPA) On February 5, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea announced that negotiations are currently underway with Indonesia on the issue of cost allocation for the project.
As reported by CAMTO, in accordance with the initial agreement signed by the two countries in 2015, Indonesia has committed itself to pay 20% of the total cost of developing a fighter jet by 2026, which is about 8.1 trillion. won ($5.99 billion). The Government of the Republic of Korea has committed to pay 60% of the costs, and KAI will cover the remaining 20%. In exchange for investments, Indonesia should receive one prototype, access to technologies developed under the program and know-how for the production of up to 48 fighters.
In total, Indonesia should contribute about 1.7 trillion won. However, payments were suspended from January 2019 to November 2022. In November 2022, Indonesia paid 9.4 billion to the Republic of Korea. It's in the framework of the project. In February 2023, about 41.7 billion won were paid out. It is estimated that by the end of 2023, Indonesia had paid 278.3 billion won for the project, but the current debt already exceeds 1 trillion won.
The South Korean company Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI) began development of the national twin-engine multirole combat aircraft KF-X in December 2015. The first prototype performed its first flight on July 19, 2022. Currently, six prototypes are participating in the tests. This year, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Korea intends to start production of the aircraft, despite ongoing tests. The development is expected to be fully completed by mid-2026. The assembly of production aircraft is planned to be carried out during 2026-2032.