KAI Signs $460 Million Deal to Add Air-to-Ground Strike Capability to KF-21 Fighter

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has signed a 685.9 billion won (about $460 million) contract with South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) to carry out additional armament testing that will give the KF-21 Boramae fighter the ability to strike ground targets, expanding the jet's mission set beyond air superiority.

The contract, signed on June 19 but disclosed only recently, funds an added test program set to run through 2028. Crucially, it allows engineers to begin flight-test verification of air-to-ground systems before the KF-21's current system development phase officially wraps up, potentially shaving years off the timeline for fielding the new capability.

Under the deal, KAI will test, evaluate and certify a range of air-to-ground weapons while also verifying how the aircraft's AESA radar and core avionics perform in ground-attack scenarios. The company said the effort is designed to deliver full operational capability by the end of the project period.

The work will proceed in three phases under a revised development plan DAPA approved in August last year, with each phase's validated capabilities fielded to the air force as they become ready rather than all at once. As a result, air-to-ground capability that had originally been targeted for the end of 2028 is now expected to reach the KF-21 as early as the first half of 2027.

The upgrade program comes as the broader KF-21 effort moves into production, with the first mass-produced aircraft already being built on the assembly line. The Republic of Korea Air Force is scheduled to begin operating the jet in the second half of 2026, initially in an air-to-air role.

KAI said it expects the expanded weapons and sensor package to strengthen the KF-21's appeal to overseas buyers, particularly nations in the Middle East and Southeast Asia that already fly its FA-50 light fighter and could see the Boramae as a natural upgrade path.