The Korea Aerospace Industries KF-21 fighter could receive its first export order during an upcoming visit by Indonesia’s president to South Korea.
A deal for 16 of the twin-engined fighters will be signed during an official visit to South Korea by Prabowo Subianto from 31 March to 2 April, according to a report by news agency Yonhap, citing government sources.
A final contract will be concluded in the first half of 2026 following negotiations over price.
When contacted by FlightGlobal, KAI had this to say: “We are currently in discussions with Indonesia, but no details have been finalised at this time. We will provide a follow-up disclosure once specific details are confirmed or within one month.”
Jakarta has been a junior partner in the programme since 2010, with the intention of obtaining a special IFX variant. Indonesia’s involvement has been rocky, characterised by constant haggling over its level of investment and technology transfer.
The relationship between Jakarta and Seoul hit a low point in 2024, when Indonesian engineers working on the programme in South Korea were accused of data theft.
The engineers, however, were ultimately acquitted and the two partners agreed to reset their relationship in 2025, reportedly cutting Jakarta’s investment requirement in the programme to W600 billion from W1.7 trillion previously.
In October 2025, and Indonesian test pilot flew in a KF-21 prototype, signaling Jakarta’s continued commitment.
A formal KF-21 commitment would bring further clarity to Indonesia’s airpower improvement plans.
The nation is in the process of receiving 42 Dassault Aviation Rafales, and in July signed a contract for 48 Turkish Aerospace Kaan fighters, committing itself to an aircraft that is far less mature than the KF-21, due to enter Republic of Korea Air Force service at the end of 2026.
Jakarta has an urgent need to update its combat fleet, the mainstay of which are 33 Lockheed Martin F-16s with an average age of 38.5 years. This fleet has seen some updates, but nothing like the comprehensive F-16 upgrade programmes undertaken by other big regional F-16 operators such as Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
Indonesia also operates five Sukhoi Su-27s and 11 Su-30MKs in the air defence role. In addition, it has 28 older BAE Systems Hawk 100/200s and 13 newer Embraer EMB-314/A-29 Super Tucanos for ground attack work.
