Korea's biggest arms fair to give public first look at KF-21 fighter

The Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (ADEX) 2023, the largest defense and aerospace exhibition in Northeast Asia, will be back on a larger scale this year, showcasing the domestically developed KF-21 multirole fighter to the public.

The KF-21 Boramae, the country's first indigenously developed supersonic fighter jet, flies over Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, during a test flight held Monday, a day before the six-day 2023 Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (ADEX) officially begins. [NEWS1]

The Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (ADEX) 2023, the largest defense and aerospace exhibition in Northeast Asia, will be back on a larger scale this year, showcasing the domestically developed KF-21 multirole fighter to the public for the first time.

The six-day biennial exhibition, now in its 14th year, begins at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, on Tuesday and will run through Sunday.

A total of 550 companies from 34 countries are due to participate in this year’s exhibition, which the event’s co-organizing team says will be the largest yet. Of the 550 companies, 347 are domestic.

Some 440 companies from 28 countries took part in 2021.

The KF-21 Boramae, the country’s first indigenously developed fighter jet built by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), will be showcased at the exhibition, marking the first time the jet will be open to public viewing since it passed a series of key flights and armament tests earlier this year.

The fighter jets will also take part in test flights during the fair. KAI said the aircraft will be exhibited outdoors after each daily demo flight.

According to the organizers, this year’s ADEX is expected to propel Korean defense exports further as most domestic weapons displayed at the site have received positive feedback in the global market lately.

Some of the most popular Korean weapons and defense assets on display include K2 battle tanks, K9A1 self-propelled howitzers and the K-30 Biho self-propelled anti-aircraft gun system.

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Korea-U. S. alliance, United States Forces Korea (USFK), will also showcase military assets, including ground equipment for the first time at ADEX.

The U.S. Air Force’s F-22 Raptor stealth jet and FA-18G Hornet and U.S. Army's MQ-1C Gray Eagle drone will be displayed.

Some 114 officials from 55 countries will attend the defense fair, including defense ministers from Australia, Malaysia and Iraq.

“The Seoul ADEX has grown at a globally unprecedented pace to become a comprehensive defense exhibition, and it has doubled in scale in the past decade, whereas defense exhibitions and air shows in other major countries have experienced slow growth,” Lee Jong-ho, the event’s co-organizer, said in a statement.

“We will put all our effort into satisfying foreign military leaders, high-ranking officials and buyers, as well as to ensure safety and convenience for the general audience for ADEX so that it ranks among the top three international air shows.”

The Korean Air Force's Black Eagles fly over Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, during a rehearsal for an air show scheduled to take place at the 2023 Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition (ADEX), which will run from Tuesday through Sunday. Members of the media were invited to the exhibition on Monday before its official opening. [NEWS1]

Visitors can watch air shows at the site, where the Korean Air Force's Black Eagles will fly T-50B for about 30 minutes. Schedules for both aerobatic and demo flights will be posted on the website daily, as they could change depending on weather and aircraft conditions.

According to organizers, the size of the exhibition site has expanded by some 9 percent compared to its preceding iteration, with more than 230,000 visitors expected to tour the fair over the six days. The exhibition is open to the general public only during its final two days.

This year's exhibition comes amid rapid growth in the Korean defense industry in recent years.

According to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, Korea signed defense export contracts worth a cumulative $17 billion in 2022 — a steep rise from $7.25 billion in 2021 and $3 billion in 2020, making the country the eighth-largest weapons exporter in the world.

The country's growing stature as a defense supplier was highlighted by President Yoon Suk Yeol, who noted that the Korean defense industry “has been rising day by day with the term K-defense being used in the global market” at the International Maritime Defense Industry Exhibition held in Busan in June.

Yoon said the record defense export figure “proves that the Korean weapon systems are fully capable of competing in terms of their quality and function.”

Seoul aims for a 5-percent share of the global arms export market to become the world's fourth-largest defense exporter by 2027.

This year’s ADEX will also be the first to showcase advanced air mobility (AAM) technologies that offer environmentally friendly airborne means of intracity and intercity transportation.

Hanwha Aerospace will showcase its Butterfly model, an electric vertical takeoff and landing (Evtol) aircraft scheduled to undergo its test flights in February.

Hyundai Motor Group will also display an intercity air mobility model developed by its urban air mobility company, Supernal, at the exhibition.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]