KAI KF-21 Boramae (KFX Korean Indigenous Fighter program)

[ComradeVortex]

albeit Block 2, with IWB, would be more in line with what was really sought at program launch)

Block 2 doesn't have IWBs. Block 2 is the true multirole variant, as Block 1 lacks proper air-to-ground capabilities.

The eventual (not confirmed) Block 3 / KF-21EX would have IWBs.

 

[ComradeVortex]

The engine specs are a bit mysterious. Either the engines are much bigger than F414 or they are false figures. No way they leap past literally most engine makers on their first try.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but the KF-21 does use the F414s... The domestic engine projects appeared just recently...

 

[MadRat]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but the KF-21 does use the F414s... The domestic engine projects appeared just recently...

https://twitter.com/x/status/2096847175615725814

View: https://x.com/sheldon3103/status/2096847175615725814


KTF16000 Advanced Aero-Engine Program
Thrust: 16,000lbf / 24,000lbf (AB)
SFC: 0.725 lb/lbf/hr
TWR: 6.15 / 9.23(AB)
BPR: 0.6
OPR: 31
TIT: 1,900K

I was referring to this, not F414.

 

[Scott Kenny]

I was referring to this, not F414.

And it's not clear if that planned engine is going into the KF21 or into the next generation Korean fighter.

Though with a proposed bypass ratio of 0.6:1 compared to the 0.25:1 of an F414, I do suspect that the Korean engine will be closer in size to an F100 than an F414. More like a 36" fan than a 31" fan. Give or take, just not enough data to derive fan diameter.

 

[Sintra]

I wonder if the USAF could end up buying some KF-21s once they're in production?

The USAF? Buying a foreign fighter?!
When hell freezes over.


Wasnt the last foreign "fighter" operated by the USAF/USAAF the... Spitfire?

 

[TomcatViP]

if you are referring to WWII, probably more the Beaufighter or Mosquito

And lately, we had the F-15QA...

 

[Waterballoon]

And it's not clear if that planned engine is going into the KF21 or into the next generation Korean fighter.

Though with a proposed bypass ratio of 0.6:1 compared to the 0.25:1 of an F414, I do suspect that the Korean engine will be closer in size to an F100 than an F414. More like a 36" fan than a 31" fan. Give or take, just not enough data to derive fan diameter.

The Korean engine is expected to be just 80 lbs heavier than the F414 and that doesn't warrant an F100 size inlet at all in this day and age.