Rufus Shinra
Well-known member
So, SK started working on their new plane in 2015, and here's the first prototype, done for around 8 billion dollars. It was designed in cooperation with Indonesia, apparently, and with technical support from Lockheed-Martin, as made very clear by the plane's appearance. In terms of equipment, it seems to have local avionics (AESA radar, optronics, etc.), Western missiles (European-made and US-made) carried only in external stores and is powered by Pratt & Whitney F414 engines, the ones from Gripen E and Super Hornet. Seoul intends to have 40 of them for 2028 and 120 in the early 2030s.
As the first new "western" fighter made in quite some time, it's telling that they aren't even trying to go for the VLO route, except maybe in a reconnaissance role, as combat will involve external payload. Instead, they went for some cross between the F-15 and the F-22 with a smaller size. In terms of geopolitics, it indicates a continued alignment with the US, at least until they can make their own jet engines. The biggest losers here are clearly the Swedes, as this plane will come with the same limitations as Gripen, but most likely far superior performance in all regards while Gripen is reaching the end of its development course. It doesn't help that the plane, shaped a bit like the F-22 to the untrained eye, so it's easy to politically act as if it was a super-stealth fighter of whatever "generation" the media likes to talk on a given day.
Amusingly, it looks like a huge kit-bash made real, with the F-35's cockpit blending, the F-22 general shape and aerodynamics, combined with the Super Hornet propulsion, from inlet shape to engines. It's unlikely to break new ground, but rather integrates the lessons of the past twenty years and takes into consideration the likely sensor developments of the next ten years: getting a lowered RCS is good, but making tons of raw performance sacrifices for it isn't.
