Songrim SR-12
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| Songrim SR-12 | |
|---|---|
| Role | Multirole stealth aircraft |
| National origin | Menghe |
| Manufacturer | Songrim Aircraft Corporation |
| First flight | 2014 |
| Introduction | 2021 (planned) |
| Primary user | Menghe |
| Produced | 2019-present |
The Songrim SR-12 ((Formal designation: 송림 12호 공격기 / 松林十二號攻擊機, Songrim Sibi-ho Gonggyŏkgi, "Songrim No.12 Attack Plane;" Short designation 송림-12 Songrim-Sibi "Songrim-12") is an all-weather twinjet fifth-generation jet fighter developed in Menghe by the Songrim Aircraft Corporation. It is designed as a multirole combat aircraft capable of taking on both air superiority and precision ground attack roles.
After a long development project spanning the 2000s, the SR-12 made its first flight in February 2014, and was first publicly unveiled at the 2018 National Day celebration. As of May 2019, a small number of production-model SR-12 airframes are in service with a training and evaluation squadron, but no deliveries to combat-ready units have been made.
Development
The Songrim Aircraft Corporation began preliminary work on a stealth fighter some time around 1999 or 2000, producing a series of conceptual sketches under the designation "JG-S." Most of this work was done under the leadership of Han Mun-su, a talented designer and advocate of stealth aircraft. The Ministry of National Defense initially expressed little interest in the aircraft, as no other country in Septentrion was close to putting a 5th-generation fighter into service, but Han argued successfully for a small stream of funding to support conceptual projects.
State interest in a fifth-generation fighter increased after 2005, when relations with Tyran, Innominada, and Maverica soured over the Ummayan Civil War. The MoND's initial emergency plan focused on accelerating procurement of existing designs and pushing in-progress weapons into service, but by 2009 Han Mun-su and his work team were given the green light to expand the JG-S project, with new funding tied to the completion of a flyable prototype by the end of 2012.
Even with consistent state support, Songrim's JG-S project met repeated delays due to the airframe's technological complexity.