[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence video] AESA Radar to be Equipped on F-15K Fighter Jet

[Asia Economy Military Specialist Yang Nak-gyu] The Ministry of National Defense has decided to equip main fighter jets such as the KF-16 and F-15K with Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars. This means upgrading the KF-16 and F-15K to 4.5-generation fighter jet standards.

The Ministry of National Defense announced that the budget for the 2021?2025 Defense Mid-term Plan is 300.7 trillion KRW, allocating 100.1 trillion KRW to defense capability improvements to enhance advanced forces against all-around security threats, and 200.6 trillion KRW for operational expenses to maintain defense operations. The Defense Mid-term Plan is a guideline outlining military construction and operation plans for the next five years.

The recently developed AESA radar prototype, known as the "eyes of the fighter jet," plays a crucial role in modern aerial combat concepts where long-range precision strike capability determines victory. On the 7th, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration held a prototype delivery ceremony at Hanwha Systems’ Yongin Integrated Research Center, the defense company manufacturing the AESA radar.

In 2014, when selecting the F-35 stealth fighter from Lockheed Martin, USA, for the KF-X project, the Ministry of National Defense and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration secured promises for the transfer of four core technologies necessary for fighter development (AESA radar, infrared search and track equipment, electro-optical targeting equipment, and electronic warfare equipment). However, the U.S. Congress suddenly banned the transfer of these technologies. Consequently, the domestic defense industry decided to develop the four core technologies independently.

The domestically produced AESA radar contains about 1,088 modules, each 5 mm in size. With 1,088 "eyes," it can simultaneously detect and track over 1,000 targets at once. The unit price of one module is 45 million KRW, equivalent to the price of one car. Importing from overseas costs over 80 million KRW per module, so localization saves about half the budget.

Considering that the AESA radar of the U.S. F-35 consists of about 1,200 modules, it is not inferior to the radar of fifth-generation fighter jets. So far, about six countries including the U.S., Japan, and China are known to have developed AESA radars. The domestically produced AESA radar will enter airborne testing by the end of this year and will be installed on the KFX prototype from 2023 for final testing.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.