Promotion of Domestic Production for Core Components of KF-X

by Yang Nakgyu

Published 30 Mar.2021 10:35(KST)

The KF-X wind tunnel tests conducted by domestic and international specialized institutions proceed through three stages: Stage 1 (2016?2017) for shape optimization, Stage 2 (2017?2018) for shape finalization, and Stage 3 (2018?2020) for acquiring detailed data on the finalized shape.

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter]The proportion of domestically produced core components applied to weapon systems such as the Korean Fighter eXperimental (KF-X) is expected to increase.

According to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) on the 30th, DAPA will publicly recruit projects and lead companies for the '2021 1st Component Localization Support Project' from the 31st of this month to the 30th of next month. The 'Component Localization Support Project' is a program to develop domestic products to replace imported core components used in weapon systems.

In particular, with the enforcement of the Act on the Promotion and Development of the Defense Industry this year, the scope of support for component localization has expanded, and the total related support budget has significantly increased from 20.3 billion KRW last year to 88.6 billion KRW this year. The types of support projects have also diversified. The 14 projects to be publicly recruited in the first half include not only weapon systems already in mass production such as KF-X and short-range surface-to-air guided missiles (Cheonma), but also component development support projects for weapons in the system development stage.

The lead companies for localization development are principally small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The final selected companies will receive support for up to 75% of development costs within a maximum limit of 10 billion KRW per project for up to five years, and upon successful development, they can enter into sole-source contracts.