South Korea Considers Transferring One KF-21 Prototype to Indonesia

Seoul (ANTARA) - South Korea and Indonesia have agreed in principle to hand over one of the six South Korean KF-21 fighter jet prototypes to Jakarta, said a member of parliament in Seoul on Tuesday, as their joint development project approaches completion.

In talks in February, both sides agreed to the handover of the single-seat KF-21 prototype used for verification tests, such as aerial refuelling, said parliament member Kang Dae-sik, citing documents from the defence acquisition agency.

The handover, valued at around 600 billion won (Rp6.8 trillion), includes the fighter jet worth 350 billion won (Rp3.9 trillion) as well as other development costs.

This agreement comes as the joint KF-21 development is scheduled to be completed in June after more than a decade.

South Korea launched the project in 2015 to develop a domestically produced supersonic fighter jet, while Indonesia joined as a partner by agreeing to a cost-sharing scheme in exchange for technology transfer, prototypes, and other provisions.

Indonesia initially agreed to contribute around 20 percent of the total project cost as a partner nation but later proposed a reduction in contribution in exchange for a decreased level of technology transfer.

In June last year, both countries signed a final agreement to lower Indonesia’s contribution to the current amount.

Alongside the prototype handover, Seoul is reportedly negotiating with Jakarta to sign an agreement for the export of 16 KF-21 fighter jet units, which would be the first foreign sale of the domestically produced fighter jet.

Source: Yonhap-OANA