KF-21 Successfully Fires Missiles as Expert Says Jet Is Ready for Missions

KF-21 Successfully Fires Missiles as Expert Says Jet Ready for Missions — South Korea's KF-21 Boramae fighter jets will be ready for missions once it completes a series of tests and fires missiles without problems. BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images

Expert verifies the KF-2l Boramae is ready for air-to-air missions.
The French Rafale missiles were fired by KF-2l Boramae in its tests.
Two prototypes of the KF-2l Boramae took part in the tests done by the Korean Air Force.

After a series of tests, South Korea's KF-21 Boramae fighter jet is ready for missions, an expert verifies it is at that stage. Another is that it fires missiles mounted on Rafales with no problems.

KF-21 Boramae Fires Missiles Successfully

Tests on two prototypes were done over the sea on South Korea's southern coast after they left Sacheon, where the 3rd Flying Training Wing of the Republic of Korea Air Force, location is 300 kilometers from the capital Seoul, reported The Eurasian Times.

Trials of four units in flight testing with a total of six KF-21 prototypes are involved in testing the limits of Boramae in 2,000 tests until February of 2026. These particular trials use the second and third units in particular. The second unit will check how the plane's structural load capacity is handled. Unit three tests how fast the plane is and how much payload it can mount.

Another test for the second unit was how the launching of middle-range Meteor missiles would fare. Crucial is the separation of the ordnance from the hardpoint with no issues. A third unit will test how firing 100 rounds from its cannon will affect the airframe, per Military Watch Magazine.

Based on the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, which is Sokor's agency that buys arms, stated the tests had objectives that must be satisfied. These are alterations to the airframe, engine, and aerodynamic structures while in operation to make sure no problem happens, per Defense Korea.

Development of the KF-21 Boramae Fighter

The cost of the KF-21 Boromae development is $6.9 billion, which started in 2015 to design a 4.5 gen fighter jet to retire its aging F-4 and F-5 fighter fleet, cited Yonhap News.

Once all relevant trials are done in 2026, the fighter jet will be mass-produced by Sokor. The ROKAF will buy 100 of these Korean jets by 2032.

The Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) will boost the new Korean jet, taking out targets over 100 kilometers. Meteor, made by MBD, engages agile targets and has been on the Swedish Air Force's JAS 39 Gripens since 2016. It is also mounted on the Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoons, and even the F-35 stealth fighter.

ROKAF says it will mix the KF-21 and F-35s with one for air defense with a stealth jet for attacking enemy radars. Abraham Ait said both are good plans for a tandem operation. In time the KF-21 will be used, not the F-15 or F-16.

Is Asian Jet a Western Competition for Export?

The Boramae is the first Korean-made supersonic jet showing SoKor's defense industry can make fighter planes. Seoul joins the United States, Russia, China, Japan, and France as members of nations capable of developing and building these jets.

For export, it will be as good as western-produced arms but with no high price tag. There will be buyers from Thailand and the Philippines when the time comes. The Koreans have already sold defense products to Poland and a few others. To get the KF-21 ready for missions, it needs to see how it fires missiles and other tests to prove airworthiness.