Fighter Jet Project Delayed
An Indonesian governmental official said the Korea-Indonesia Fighter Experimental (KF-X/IF-X), a South Korean and Indonesian program to develop sophisticated multi-purpose fighter jets for the two countries air forces, is being delayed due to the absence of the U.S. license for technology transfer.
Indonesian media, including Antara News, reported on Feb. 7 that Indonesian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdurrahman Mohammad Fachir co-chaired the First Meeting of High Working Level Strategic Dialogue (HWLSD) with South Korean Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Lim Sung-nam in Jakarta a day earlier, and Fachir said to reporters, “The U.S. has refused to grant export license for the key technologies that have been delaying the program in many ways.”
The four key technologies are active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, infrared search and track (IRST) system, electronic optics targeting pod (EOTGP) and radio frequency (RF) jammer, according to local media reports.
In this regard, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said, “The four key technologies – AESA radar, IRST, EOTGP and RF jammer – are not included in the export license form for Indonesia. Currently, the U.S. government is reviewing the technology transfer to Indonesia. The joint development with Indonesia is also going off without a hitch.”
South Korea and Indonesia are now developing a next-generation fighter jet. Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) signed a joint development agreement for the KFX/IFX program with the Indonesian Defense Ministry and its state-run aerospace company PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) early last year. Based on the agreement, Indonesia will invest 1.6 trillion won (US$1.39 billion) for the program in return for one test aircraft and various technical data.