South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) has joined forces with the defence ministry’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) to develop advanced engines for next-generation fighter jets and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), officials announced on 5 March.
DAPA and MOTIE officials held a meeting to discuss the necessary preparations for the engine development project. The meeting was also attended by members from domestic companies, including Doosan Enerbility and Hanwha Aerospace.
DAPA confirmed its plan to invest US$2.3 billion to develop a 16,000 lb-class aircraft engine in January.
Hanwha Aerospace earlier announced that it will develop a fully indigenous 6th generation engine with a thrust of 15,000lb (66.8kN) that will power Block III production examples of the KF-21 Boramae multirole combat aircraft in the second half of the 2030s.
The company earlier announced in June 2024 that it signed a contract with DAPA to supply US-designed but locally produced engines for the first batch of KF-21 aircraft.
It stated that the contract is worth approximately US$401 million and will be in force from June 2024 to December 2027, during which the company will deliver over 40 F414 engines and spare modules for the KF-21, as well as provide engine maintenance manuals and on-site technical support.
Hanwha Aerospace signed an agreement with GE Aerospace in July 2016 to perform local assembly and local manufacture of parts for the F414-GE-400 engine, as well as support flight testing and maintenance infrastructure development with the aim of eventual license production of the engine itself.
The agreement follows the selection of GE Aerospace to supply the F414 engine for the KF-X development programme which resulted in the KF-21. The F414 engine for the KF-21 will be produced under license at the company’s Changwon Plant 1 facility.
Hanwha Aerospace has produced over 10,000 engines over the past 45 years and has supplied engines for RoKAF aircraft such as the F-4 Phantom, KF-5 Jegong-ho, KF-16 Fighting Falcon, F-15K Slam Eagle, and T-50 Golden Eagle, through license production.
by Jr Ng
