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South Korean Air Force - KF-21 fighter

author:Biancheng dragged the master

The KF-21 fighter is a fighter developed by the South Korean Air Force, the KF-21 is named after the symbol of the South Korean Air Force "Falcon", the maximum level flight speed is expected to reach Mach 1.83, and can carry 7.7 tons of armament, using active phased array radar (AESA) and infrared search and track (IRST) probes and other systems. After entering service, the KF-21 will be the first domestically produced main model of the South Korean Air Force.

South Korean Air Force - KF-21 fighter

The KF-21 Falcon made its first successful test flight in July 2022 and has since increased its altitude and speed through more than 80 flights.

South Korean Air Force - KF-21 fighter

On January 17, 2023, local time, South Korea's domestic supersonic fighter KF-21 Falcon successfully flew at supersonic speed for the first time.

Introduction to the warplane

The KF-21 fighter is a fighter developed by the South Korean Air Force [, the KF-21 is named after the symbol of the South Korean Air Force "Falcon", the maximum level flight speed is expected to reach Mach 1.83, and can carry 7.7 tons of armament, using active phased array radar (AESA) and infrared search and track (IRST) probes and other systems. After entering service, the KF-21 will be the first domestically produced main model of the South Korean Air Force.

South Korean Air Force - KF-21 fighter

Aircraft performance and weapon systems

KF-21N (shipborne version)

KF-21N, using two American-made F414 turbofan engines, is known as "the world's first twin-engine 4.5-generation carrier-based aircraft". The aircraft is 17.1 meters long, 5.2 meters high and 12.3 meters wide, with a maximum load of 7,620 kilograms and a maximum speed of Mach 1.6 per hour. Compared with the land-based model, the KF-21N has added a wing folding device and a tail hook for landing on the carrier, has a larger wing area, and the fuselage structure has been strengthened to meet the requirements of ejection and ski-jump takeoff, but does not have vertical takeoff and landing capabilities.

South Korean Air Force - KF-21 fighter

The KF-21 is a new fighter jointly developed by South Korea and Indonesia. Although the aircraft adopts a large number of stealth designs, due to the small body, no internal magazine design, the use of belly semi-buried and underwing loading to carry weapons and equipment, does not have stealth combat capabilities, so it is considered to be a "shrunken version" of the 5th generation aircraft.

South Korean Air Force - KF-21 fighter

The KF-21 fighter is highly similar in appearance to the American F-22 fighter, using a double vertical tail, double launch bureau, the air intake is located below the extension surface of the leading edge of the wing, adopts an S-shaped structure, the main wing and horizontal tail adopt a small aspect ratio trapezoidal airfoil, and the nose adopts a diamond-shaped design with better stealth. The biggest difference between this aircraft and the 5th generation aircraft is the magazineless design, with a total of 6 underwing hardpoints, 4 belly semi-buried hardpoints and 2 side sensor hardpoints. After mounting weapons and equipment, the reflective surface of the airframe radar has increased significantly.

South Korean Air Force - KF-21 fighter

The KF-21 fighter is equipped with 2 turbofan engines from General Electric and has a maximum design speed of Mach 1.8 per hour. Although it does not have high-altitude high-speed and supersonic cruise capabilities, it is sufficient to support its diverse missions.

South Korean Air Force - KF-21 fighter

The KF-21 fighter's main radar adopts South Korea's active phased array radar, which can detect and track hundreds of ground targets at the same time, providing clear images of targets less than 1 meter, and a maximum detection range of about 200 kilometers. In addition to the main radar, an infrared detection and tracking system is installed on the right front of the cockpit, which can search for targets when the radar is off. In addition, the KF-21 fighter can also carry pods such as electro-optical tracking systems, directional infrared countermeasures systems and electronic countermeasures systems to enhance combat situational awareness and electronic countermeasures capabilities.

South Korean Air Force - KF-21 fighter

The first models of the KF-21 are air-to-air combat capabilities only, and are equipped with missiles including the Meteor medium- and long-range air-to-air missile and the IRIS-T infrared-guided air-to-air missile. The former has a range of more than 100 km, and the latter has a highly sensitive infrared seeker, plus a vector propulsion engine, suitable for close combat. The second batch of models has air-to-ground combat capabilities, and the corresponding addition of American-made GBU series precision-guided bombs and anti-tank cluster bombs, as well as the Taurus air-to-surface cruise missile imported from Germany and the South Korean-made supersonic air-to-ground missile. In addition, the KF-21 fighter has an M61A1 20mm Vulcan cannon, which is mainly used in aerial combat.

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