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South Korea selects General Electric to power KFX

General Electric (GE) will supply the turbofan powerplant for South Korea and Indonesia’s next-generation multi-role fighter, the KFX. The GE F414 turbofan as found great success by being adopted by the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the Saab JAS-39E/F Gripen NG, and even the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Tejas. GE’s primary competitor seems to have been Eurojet and its EJ200.

Comment and Analysis

At the beginning of 2016, Indonesia signed onto the KAI KFX, and had committed to fund upwards of 20% of the KFX’s development. The total KFX budget sits at $15.2 billion U.S. The KFX was conceived as a twin-engine and medium-weight design that is “more agile than a Lockheed Martin F-16″, and paired with “an advanced sensor suite and fusion software on a part with … [the] new-generation F-35” (Flight Global). Once available, the KFX would begin replacing South Korea’s oldest F-16s.

Although still marred by the reality of using critical U.S. technology (e.g. GE F414 turbofan), it seems the KFX will emerge to be a lower-cost ‘Western’-style next-generation alternative to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. KAI has succeeded in opening a number of key markets in East Asia as well as in the Middle East (i.e. Iraq) via the FA-50 and T-50 Golden Eagle. Besides Indonesia, the likes of the Philippines and the Gulf Arab states would likely emerge as KAI’s principal target markets.

Competition, at least in that market segment, would likely emerge from Turkey and the TFX, which seems to be emerging as a very similar solution in terms of configuration. India will likely continue committing to its indigenous industry (which is beginning to blossom under the stewardship of its private sector). Finally, the KFX design (as a concept or idea) could be something the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) may consider for its own next-generation fighter program, which is currently in the conceptualization phase.

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Bilal Khan Founder
Founder of Quwa, Bilal has been researching Pakistani defence industry and security issues for over 15 years. His work has been cited by Pakistan's National Defence University (NDU), the Council of Foreign Relations, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Centre of Airpower Studies and many others. He has a Hons. B.A in Political Science and Masters of Interntional Public Policy from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
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2 Comments

  • by Ashi Sidhu
    Posted May 27, 2016 3:44 am 0Likes

    so many 5gen fighter jet projects no one how will they finally look like but i think if US had sold F22 then the japanese,south korean and turkish programs actually would never have come up

  • by wangkon936
    Posted May 27, 2016 1:56 pm 0Likes

    I don’t worry about Turkey. They can’t even get a prop plane trainer ready for deployment and they think they can develop a stealth fighter jet?… 😛

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