Korean Aviation Industry Thread

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12 years 3 months

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The inlet duct section profile looks so much like the ones on the Rafale. I wonder if they had some shared work with Dassault there. Also, the depth of the WB cutout is remarkable. That would call for a lot of bracing in traditional manufacturing tech. I guess that the traversing wing carry through box will take all the load with a composite structure.

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12 years 2 months

Posts: 171

The inlet duct section profile looks so much like the ones on the Rafale. I wonder if they had some shared work with Dassault there. Also, the depth of the WB cutout is remarkable. That would call for a lot of bracing in traditional manufacturing tech. I guess that the traversing wing carry through box will take all the load with a composite structure.

I think the similarity of the duct is more coincidence than anything, the way a rectangular inlet is twisted into a circular shape right before the engine has to be primarily driven by CFD and tests.

Possibly. A lot of the KF-X will be made of good old aluminium alloy, however. It reduces technical risk and also manufacturing costs. (The trade-off being the KF-X having a higher empty weight than contemporary standards may dictate)

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11 years 10 months

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https://youtu.be/p9RhzQK1JyI

From ROK TV. The first fuselage component, which indicates KFX already entering prototype production stage.
The video shown KFX with internal bays of 4 of AIM 120 class. Don't understand Korean, this not sure if the internal bays now still on batch 2 as previously planned.

Does it carry AIM-120 internal or with semi recessed station? Or both at the same time?

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12 years 2 months

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Does it carry AIM-120 internal or with semi recessed station? Or both at the same time?

Semi-recessed first. Possible development and addition of IWB later. (Most definitely not at the same time)

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13 years 5 months

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Possibly. A lot of the KF-X will be made of good old aluminium alloy, however. It reduces technical risk and also manufacturing costs. (The trade-off being the KF-X having a higher empty weight than contemporary standards may dictate)

I read from some source in DI, that stated KAI lead design team already plan that the Block 1 and Block 2 difference will be quite significant. Not only IWB but also the amount of composite materials in air frame..This related on level of LO difference from Block 1 to Block 2. In such Block 1 still consider gen 4.5+ and Block 2 will be genuine gen 5.

​​​​can you confirm this from Korean sources ?

Member for

12 years 2 months

Posts: 171

I read from some source in DI, that stated KAI lead design team already plan that the Block 1 and Block 2 difference will be quite significant. Not only IWB but also the amount of composite materials in air frame..This related on level of LO difference from Block 1 to Block 2. In such Block 1 still consider gen 4.5+ and Block 2 will be genuine gen 5.

​​​​can you confirm this from Korean sources ?

I only consider something true when there is official documentation or an actual person related to the company that is quoted. So in terms of the details, nothing is confirmed. We know the plan is to steadily improve from Block 1 to 2 to 3, but the timeline and exactly what is included in each block is not confirmed. That KAI is planning to upgrade the fighter with IWB is obvious, but in terms of other technical details we have no reliable information. People have guessed that composites/radar-absorbing-structure is part of the upgrades, along with conformal antennas, uprated F414 engines, internal EOTS and so on.

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5 years 10 months

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Well, if they are going for a short development schedule for the first block then Al based alloys for the structure can help. It eliminates a lot of long term degradation issues such as moisture intrusion and galvanic corrosion that has to be mitigated with composites. Their only risk is whether their weight budget allows for it in the end. And, since they are going to have some design tolerance built in and Al alloys are already pretty light, that is likely a very low risk. With regards to VLO, the internal structure has little effect. The F-35 uses Al and does just fine. It's the skin layers that mostly matter for stealth.

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13 years 5 months

Posts: 506

Just like Eagle says..the gradual development from Block 1 to 3 is already planned from beginning of the project. However what is not in detail now is how big the difference between Block 1 to following Blocks.

Independent commission has been put in Indonesia to assess the project with one of the topics that information on the difference between Block 1 and following Blocks will be quite substantial, that Block 1 can't be upgraded later on to following Blocks.
For that, the commission give recommendation that participation to the initial batch (I presumed Block 1) will be limited on 1 SQ (16 fighters) only.

Again, I only read comment from Indonesian media, thus not have detail on how KAI plan on doing development stages. One thing so far, Indonesian participation as Junior Partner still on, but they are in negotiation on stages on development participation..which from what I heard related on development progression between various Blocks.

Initial agreement is for DI involved with KAI on Block 1 development..seems now Indonesian wants to negotiate also on how to progress on following Blocks.

Member for

12 years 2 months

Posts: 171

Just like Eagle says..the gradual development from Block 1 to 3 is already planned from beginning of the project. However what is not in detail now is how big the difference between Block 1 to following Blocks.

Independent commission has been put in Indonesia to assess the project with one of the topics that information on the difference between Block 1 and following Blocks will be quite substantial, that Block 1 can't be upgraded later on to following Blocks.
For that, the commission give recommendation that participation to the initial batch (I presumed Block 1) will be limited on 1 SQ (16 fighters) only.

Again, I only read comment from Indonesian media, thus not have detail on how KAI plan on doing development stages. One thing so far, Indonesian participation as Junior Partner still on, but they are in negotiation on stages on development participation..which from what I heard related on development progression between various Blocks.

Initial agreement is for DI involved with KAI on Block 1 development..seems now Indonesian wants to negotiate also on how to progress on following Blocks.

The thing is that even between the Korean government, ROKAF, and KAI, the current KF-X/IF-X development program only covers Block 1 development. Nobody has officially sanctioned or paid for Block 2 or 3. So PTDI can collaborate for Block 2 and Block 3, but that has to be a sperate agreement.