Co-development of Jet Fighter
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), South Korea's sole aircraft manufacturer, signed a formal contract with the Indonesian Ministry of Defense and Indonesian state-run defense firm PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) for the co-development of the Korean Fighter Experimental (KF-X) fighter aircraft.
The company announced on Jan. 7 that its president Ha Sung-yong concluded the final agreement with Timbul Siahaan, director general for defense potential at Indonesia's Ministry of Defense, to share 20 percent of the KF-X development expenses. Also, KAI Vice President Chang Sung-sup signed a work-share agreement with Budiman Saleh, head of the business development division at PTDI.
With the two separate deals, KAI has made all the arrangements to begin the joint development of the KF-X fighter jet, including investment and work sharing. The Indonesian government will initially front one percent of the bill in April 2016, with its contribution set to increase to above two percent after 2017.
The PTDI will send up to 100 engineers to Korea from May every year to participate in the aircraft's structural design and analysis and system development.
Indonesia will invest some 1.6 trillion won (US$1.33 billion), about 20 percent of the development cost, in the KF-X project and acquire one prototype and technology data afterward.