[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence Club] Successful Firing of KF-21 Machine Gun

Successful Test of Air-to-Air Weapon Separation and Aerial Gunfire
Plans to Launch Air-to-Air Missiles Across All Flight Domains

Domestic supersonic fighter KF-21 'Boramae' successfully conducted tests of releasing armaments from the aircraft during flight and firing the aircraft gun.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) on the 28th, the KF-21 took off from the Air Force 3rd Training Flight Group in Sacheon, Gyeongnam, and successfully carried out air-to-air armament release tests and in-flight gun firing tests. The test was conducted for the first time to verify safety by checking changes in aircraft structure, engine, and aerodynamic characteristics that may occur when releasing armaments or firing the gun from the fighter, and to confirm that the avionics system related to armament operation functions properly.

On the day, the KF-21 prototype No. 2 took off at 10:54 a.m., performed the armament release test using a medium-range air-to-air missile (Meteor) test round, and landed at 12:09 p.m. Prototype No. 3 took off at 11:18 a.m., fired about 100 rounds from the in-flight gun, and returned to the ground at 12:32 p.m. No particular issues occurred during the test flights, and they ended normally.

Since its first flight in July last year, the KF-21 has conducted over 150 test flights, demonstrating supersonic flight capability and night flight performance. After successfully conducting test flights equipped with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, it has now begun armament flight tests.

Going forward, the KF-21 plans to conduct tests on short-range and medium-range air-to-air missiles and the aircraft gun across all flight regimes including low altitude, high altitude, low speed, and supersonic speeds to verify armament stability and performance. In the mid to long term, DAPA explained that domestically produced armaments will be gradually integrated into the system and operated according to development plans.

DAPA evaluated, "With today's successful armament flight test, the KF-21, which will become the main defender of the future airspace of the Republic of Korea, has taken another step toward becoming a complete fighter."