MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th June, 2023) The sixth and last prototype of the South Korean-made KF-21 Boramae fighter successfully completed its maiden flight on Wednesday, South Korea's media reported.
The two-seat prototype took off from the South Korean air force 3rd Flying Training Wing in the city of Sacheon some 300 kilometers (186 miles) south of Seoul and flew for 33 minutes before landing, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. The first and second prototypes made their maiden flights in July and November of 2022, and the third, fourth and fifth ones each performed their first flights in January, February and May 2023. Prototypes of KF-21 fighters reached supersonic speeds for the first time in January 2023.
All six prototypes are planned to undergo a combined total of over 2,200 flight tests through the first half of 2026 - the year when the first production model is scheduled to enter South Korea's air force, the report said.
Seoul launched the 8.8 trillion won (US$6.74 billion) project in 2015 to develop an advanced supersonic fighter jet to replace aging F-4 and F-5 fighters. The fighter is being developed by Korea Aerospace Industries in cooperation with Indonesian Aerospace. The warplane is designed to fly at a maximum speed of Mach 1.81 to a range of up to 2,900 kilometers.
