South Korea’s $15B jet offer expands UAE's options as US moves to sell Saudis F-35s
With F-35 negotiations with Washington still stalled after four years, the United Arab Emirates is mulling a new proposal to partner with South Korea on production of a multirole fighter jet that could offer Abu Dhabi a strategic hedge as regional Gulf airpower competition is intensifying.
South Korea proposed a $15 billion defense-industrial package to the United Arab Emirates in recent weeks centered on the KF-21 4.5-generation multirole fighter jet, Bloomberg reported. The offer was unveiled during President Lee Jae-myung’s visit to Abu Dhabi and timed to coincide with the 2025 Dubai Airshow, which wrapped on Nov. 21. It outlines a full value-chain partnership built around joint development, local assembly and co-exportation of future variants. According to Lee’s chief of staff, Kang Hoon-sik, the model could generate more than $15 billion in long-term contracts for Korean firms.
The pitch marks the most ambitious step yet in a rapidly deepening partnership. It follows an April 2025 letter of intent committing both countries to “comprehensive cooperation” on the KF-21. It also builds on the symbolic Aug. 7 “friendship flight,” during which UAE Defense Undersecretary Ibrahim Nasser Mohammed Al Alawi rode in the back seat of a KF-21 prototype at Sacheon Air Base.
Seoul’s strategic calculus
