Indonesia continues KF-21 project, discusses specs and new payment plan with South Korea.
JAKARTA – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will send a team to South Korea to continue cooperation on the KF‑21 Boramae fighter jet development project, also known as the Korean Fighter Xperiment/Indonesian Fighter Xperiment (KFX/IFX).
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said President Prabowo Subianto and South Korean President Lee Jae myung discussed the continuation of the project during their bilateral meeting. The programme has been running since the administration of Indonesia’s sixth president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, more than 15 years ago.
“The President said he will soon send a team, both technical and engineering,” Airlangga said in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday, 1 April 2026, as quoted from a video statement released by the Presidential Secretariat.
South Korea partnered with Indonesia on the fighter jet development under a cooperation agreement signed in 2010 during the Yudhoyono administration.
The project continued under Indonesia’s seventh president, Joko Widodo, and remains active under Prabowo’s government.
Total investment in the programme, launched in 2015, amounts to 8.1 trillion KRW (equivalent to IDR 95.32 trillion).
Of that amount, Indonesia initially agreed to contribute 20 percent, or 1.6 trillion KRW. The South Korean government covers 60 percent, with the remaining 20 percent funded by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI).
The KF‑21 project faced delays due to Indonesia’s postponed payments. South Korea later agreed to reduce Indonesia’s contribution to just 600 billion KRW.
In addition to payment issues, the project was also marred by allegations of attempted technology theft involving an Indonesian engineer working on the programme.
South Korea’s Defence Acquisition Programme Administration (DAPA) requested a police investigation.
The Indonesian engineer was caught around January 2024 attempting to take a USB storage device containing KF‑21 fighter jet data.
Following DAPA’s request on Thursday, 22 February 2024, police began investigating whether the data included military secrets or other technologies protected under the Defence Technology Security Act.
In developments that followed, five technicians from PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) were accused of attempting to obtain sensitive data from the KF‑21 Boramae joint development programme.
PTDI is Indonesia’s designated industrial representative and offset beneficiary (IIP) for the KF‑21 prototype development.
In May 2025, South Korean prosecutors dropped charges against the five technicians.
Despite issues over payments and data security, the fighter jet development cooperation continues.
On 19 March 2026, about two weeks before Prabowo’s state visit to South Korea, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported plans to export 16 KF‑21 fighter jets to Indonesia. This is fewer than the original plan of 48 units.
Airlangga Hartarto said several technical matters still need to be discussed regarding the advanced jet’s development, including aircraft specifications.
Indonesia is also seeking a new payment scheme. “But the hope is that this will be resolved once the team is sent there,” Airlangga said. (DK/LM)
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