Doosan Heavy Industries Supplies 3D Printed Parts for Korean Fighter Jet 'KF-21'

[Asia Economy Reporter Su-yeon Woo] Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction announced on the 13th that it supplied air circulation system components made using 3D printing technology for the first domestically produced fighter jet, the 'KF-21.'

The parts supplied by Doosan Heavy Industries this time are among the equipment that make up the air circulation system inside the fighter jet. The parts installed on the KF-21 prototype No. 1, which was unveiled at the recent delivery ceremony, will also be supplied to prototypes No. 2 to No. 6.

On the 9th, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration unveiled the KF-21 prototype, the first domestically developed fighter jet using indigenous technology / Photo by Yonhap News

Doosan Heavy Industries signed a business agreement with Korea Aerospace Industries in 2019 regarding 'localization cooperation for aerospace material forging and 3D printing process technology' and has been striving to apply 3D printing technology to KF-21 fighter jet parts. The two companies plan to actively utilize 3D printing technology in the mass production stage in the future to increase the localization rate of parts.

3D printing is a technology that manufactures parts by layering metal or plastic powder and melting it with a laser. It has the advantage of reducing manufacturing costs and drastically shortening production time. For example, when making gas turbine combustor parts with a metal 3D printer, nitrogen oxide emissions can be reduced by more than 40% compared to machined parts, and delivery time can be shortened by more than 20%.

Song Yong-jin, Vice President of the Strategic Innovation Division at Doosan Heavy Industries, said, "We have been manufacturing power generation gas turbine parts using 3D printing technology," adding, "This time, it is significant that the technology has been applied to the production of aerospace and defense industry parts as well."

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