South Korea to sign first KF-21 fighter export deal with Indonesia for 16 jets during Prabowo visit.

South Korea is preparing to sign its first export agreement for the KF-21 Boramae multirole fighter with Indonesia during President Prabowo Subianto’s state visit between March 31 and April 2, marking a major step for Indonesia’s air combat capability.

The preliminary agreement is expected to precede a binding contract, planned in the first half of 2026, following price negotiations. The acquisition, covering 16 aircraft, strengthens Indonesia’s operational readiness and diversification strategy while supporting South Korea’s effort to scale KF-21 production and reinforce its position in the global multirole fighter market.

Read also: Indonesia plans to buy 16 KF-21 Block II fighter jets following new talks with South Korea

The 16 KF-21 fighter jets for Indonesia will likely be produced under the Block II standard, which is planned to integrate air-to-ground and maritime strike capabilities by the late 2020s. (Picture source: Army Recognition)

On March 19, 2026, Yonhap revealed that South Korea expects to sign a preliminary agreement to export 16 KF-21 Boramae fighter jets to Indonesia during President Prabowo Subianto’s state visit from March 31 to April 2, 2026. A binding implementation contract, planned within the first half of 2026 after final price coordination, would constitute the first export of the KF-21 program initiated in 2015 and would occur as the South Korean fighter jet transitions from the final development phase to serial production. The schedule aligns with the rollout of the first mass-produced unit on March 25, 2025, followed by completion of system development in the first half of 2026 and initial deliveries to the national air force in the second half.

Indonesia’s procurement structure reflects a reduction from an earlier plan to acquire 48 aircraft to an initial batch of 16 units, corresponding to a single operational squadron. This adjustment is linked to sustained financial constraints and delayed payments under the joint development agreement, in which Indonesia had committed to cover approximately 20 percent of program costs through June 2026. Revisions finalized in June reduced Jakarta’s contribution to 600 billion won, equivalent to $400 million, representing about one-third of the original obligation and accompanied by a reduction in the scope of technology transfer. The revised acquisition quantity allows Indonesia to retain program participation while limiting immediate capital expenditure.

Indonesia’s air force currently operates a highly diverse fighter fleet, including 33 American F-16 fighters of different standards delivered in several batches since the late 1980s, 5 Su-27SK/SKM and 11 Su-30MK/MK2 fighters ordered from Russia between 2003 and 2011, and 42 French Dassault Rafale fighters, with the first tranche of 6 units entering into force in 2022 and subsequent tranches activated in 2023 and 2024, while a separate agreement for 24 F-15EX fighters was recently dropped. Indonesia also signed a Letter of Intent to purchase the Italian M-346F Block 20 in February 2026. This combination of U.S., Russian, and European aircraft creates overlapping supply chains, maintenance requirements, and training systems, with limited cross-platform interoperability. The introduction of 16 KF-21 fighters is structured as a complementary addition rather than a replacement in the short term, adding a fourth fighter type while providing a basis for longer-term fleet restructuring and potential reduction of geopolitically constrained supply sources.

Industrial arrangements under negotiation with South Korea include technology transfer, maintenance, repair, and overhaul activities, and partial local manufacturing. Current proposals include the production of selected airframe components in Indonesia by PT Dirgantara Indonesia, with shipment to South Korea for final assembly. This hybrid production model mirrors earlier South Korean export cases such as the KT-1 trainer or the K2 Black Panther, where initial units were delivered as complete systems and subsequent units were assembled locally from supplied components. The structure distributes production workload while maintaining control over critical subsystems and integration processes, and reduces acquisition cost through localized labor and industrial participation.

The KF-21 Boramae, which will operate alongside the American F-35A and F-15K, has completed its flight-test phase after a campaign that concluded in January without recorded accidents, covering validation of aerodynamic performance, avionics integration, and mission systems. Production planning includes an initial batch of 40 Block 1 aircraft for domestic use, with at least 120 units planned through the early 2030s to sustain the production line and enable export availability. Serial production began in July 2024 following prototype validation, and the program’s total development cost exceeds 8 trillion won, with overall program cost, including production, estimated at 16.5 trillion won. The alignment of domestic procurement and export orders is designed to stabilize production rates, maintain supplier continuity, and reduce unit costs through economies of scale.

Export positioning of the KF-21 targets markets requiring multirole fighters with lower acquisition and sustainment costs than fifth-generation stealth fighters. Potential customers include Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern countries engaged in fleet modernization, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where demand is driven by replacement cycles and operational requirements for air defense and strike missions. The aircraft’s configuration without internal weapons bays in early blocks simplifies production and maintenance while enabling incremental upgrades through later block development, including potential integration of additional sensors and reduced radar cross-section features.

The KF-21 Boramae itself is a twin-engine multirole fighter with a maximum speed of Mach 1.8, a combat radius exceeding 1,000 km, and an operational ceiling near 50,000 feet. Powered by two General Electric F414-GE-400K turbofan engines producing about 22,000 pounds of thrust each with afterburner, the KF-21 integrates a South Korean-made active electronically scanned array radar developed by Hanwha Systems, supported by an infrared search and track system and an electronic warfare suite enabling simultaneous detection and engagement of multiple air and surface targets. Its armament includes beyond-visual-range missiles such as Meteor and AIM-120, short-range missiles such as IRIS-T and AIM-9X, and a range of precision-guided munitions and anti-ship weapons carried on ten external hardpoints.

The KF-21 program is structured around incremental block variants with expanding mission sets, beginning with Block 1, focused on air-to-air missions and forming the basis of the initial production batch of 40 KF-21s entering service from 2026. Block 2, planned for introduction by the late 2020s, adds full multirole capability, including integration of air-to-ground and stand-off weapons, enhancing strike capacity and mission diversity. A further Block 3 configuration is under consideration, incorporating deeper reductions in radar signature, potential internal weapons carriage, and improved sensor fusion, alongside the possibility of integrating a domestically developed engine under a long-term program running from 2027 to 2040. This phased approach allows progressive capability growth while maintaining production continuity, enabling South Korea to upgrade existing KF-21s rather than procure entirely new systems as requirements evolve.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.