SACHEON, South Korea, Oct. 15 Reuters KAI said on Friday its flagship KF - 21 - fighter jet and Light Attack Helicopter LAH projects are on track to meet their deadlines as South Korea prepares for opening its biennial defence exhibition next week.
South Korea unveiled the first prototype of KF-21 in April, with President Moon Jae-in hailing the aircraft as the future backbone of the air force and a step toward U.S. military independence.
Seoul media later questioned the progress of the programme when the prototype was partially dismantled for testing but KAI chief engineer Lee Il-woo said the projects on Friday were well on schedule.
Both KF - 21 and LAH projects are on track to meet all major milestones, Lee told reporters at the company's factory in the southern city of Sacheon.
Company officials declined to comment on any possible overseas buyers of either LAH or KF - 21 but both aircraft are expected to be the centrepieces of the 18th Seoul International Aerospace and Defence Exhibition ADEX The next-generation KF - 21 developed by KAI in a project partly backed by Indonesia is intended to be a cheaper, less-stealthy alternative to U.S. built F - 35, which South Korea depends upon
South Korea and Indonesia are in talks over the cost disputes after Indonesia stopped making payments.
KAI plans to conduct the ground test next year, with first flights expected in 2022.
In the manufacture at Sacheon, three KF - 21 prototype airframes were in various stages of production on an assembly line in bright yellow-green primer.
The majority of the work is being done by engineers rather than automated machines because the process is still in the prototype stage, said Lee Sang-hui, chief of aircraft production control team.
The assembly line will return to building KAI s military model TA 50 military trainer aircraft for several years while the KF- 21 prototype is testing before mass production begins, he said.
In a neighboring 5,372 square-metre test facility built for the KF-21 programme, three more partially assembled prototypes were performing various static tests.
Testing is expected to last until about 2026, officials said, with 40 of the new jets combat ready by 2028 and 120 by 2032.
The LAH, in its final stage of flight tests, is armed with a 20 mm chain gun and 2.75 - inch unguided rockets, with plans to eventually mount air-to-ground missiles.
This next year should be the last year of the development phase, said KAI helicopter pilot Kim Jin-soo.