ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – The South Korean government is investigating Indonesian engineers for allegedly stealing technology for the South Korean-made KF-21 Boramae fighter jet which is being developed by Indonesia together with South Korea.
Quoting Yonhap News Agency, Friday, February 2 2024, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) now suspects that Indonesian engineers sent to Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) stored data on the development of the KF-21 fighter jet on USB.
“A joint investigation consisting of related institutions, including the National Intelligence Agency, is currently being carried out to investigate allegations of technology theft committed by Indonesian citizens,” DAPA explained to journalists.
According to sources, the investigation is now focused on whether the stored data contains strategic technology related to the KF-21 development program.
As a result of this incident, Indonesian citizens are now prohibited from leaving South Korea.
For your information, the fighter jet jointly developed by Indonesia and South Korea, the KF-21 Boramae or KFX/IFX, is still facing problems in terms of paying off costs. The reason is, the Indonesian government has not paid the cost share that was mutually agreed upon.
In the cooperation contract for the manufacture of KFX/IFX, the South Korean government bears 60 percent of the financing and the remainder is shared equally (sharing costs) between Indonesia and Korea Aerospace Industry (KAI) at 20 percent each.
Thus, the total cost share that must be paid by the Indonesian Government is around IDR 24.8 trillion. Meanwhile, Indonesia has only paid 17 percent of its obligations and 83 percent has not been paid to date.
During the program, South Korea was forced to pay most of the cost share for the 2016-2022 period.
As previously reported, the Indonesian and South Korean governments agreed to produce 4.5 generation fighter jets. The KF-21 Boramae has advanced technology, including semi-stealth, smart avionics with sensor fusion, beyond and within visual range weapon system, highly maneuverable, and interoperability concept.
Work on the KF-21 Boramae fighter jet project has now entered the Engineering Manufacture Development (EMD) stage which will take place in 2016-2026. KAI produces a total of 8 fighter jets for Indonesia, of which 2 aircraft are still in ground test and 6 have been in flight test. South Korea then plans to start production of KF-21 fighter jets in late 2024, with the aim of deploying 120 KF-21s by 2032. (ATN)
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