The South Korea’s state arms procurement agency on Thursday delivered the first model of the new TA-50 Block 2 lead-in fighter trainer jet to the Republic of Korea Air Force. Yonhap News Agency reported that the delivery is part of a 1 trillion-won (US$771.8 million) project to supply 20 TA-50 Block 2 trainers to the Air Force through 2026. The Block 2 is an upgraded variant of the TA-50 Block 1, 22 units of which are currently in RoKAF service. The agency had revealed three days earlier that its Defense Project Promotion Committee had approved a plan to acquire an undisclosed number of Block 2 aircraft under a project budgeted at about KRW1 trillion that is expected to be completed by 2024.
The KAI T-50 Golden Eagle is a family of South Korean supersonic advanced jet trainers and light combat aircraft, developed by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) with Lockheed Martin.[1] The T-50 is South Korea’s first indigenous supersonic aircraft and one of the world’s few supersonic trainers.[4] Development began in the late 1990s, and its maiden flight occurred in 2002. The aircraft entered active service with the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) in 2005. The T-50 has been further developed into aerobatic and combat variants, namely T-50B, TA-50, and FA-50. A F-50 single-seat multirole fighter variant was considered before being cancelled. The T-50B serves with the South Korean air force’s aerobatics team.
The KAI TA-50 Block 2 is a variant of the T-50 series aircraft built by Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. — will be used to train future fighter pilots in arms and radar operations among other tactics before their assignment to fighter units. The TA-50 is designed to operate as a full-fledged combat platform for precision-guided weapons, air-to-air missiles, and air-to-ground missiles. The TA-50 can mount additional utility pods for reconnaissance, targeting assistance, and electronic warfare. Reconnaissance and electronic warfare variants are also being developed, designated RA-50 and EA-50, respectively. The new Block 2 version is equipped with lighting suitable for night vision equipment and has improved joint direct attack munition operational capabilities.
Iraq ordered 24 training variants called the T-50IQ in 2013, and received them in 2016. The TA-50 light attack variant have also been ordered by Indonesia in 2011, with 16 planes entering service by 2014; an additional 6 planes were ordered in 2021. The Philippines ordered 12 units of the FA-50 light fighter variant in 2014, delivered over the next few years with the country considering to order another batch of 12 planes. Thailand ordered 12 units of the T-50 advanced trainer variant (T-50TH) starting in 2015. In 2022, Poland ordered 48 FA-50 aircraft, followed by Malaysia in 2023 that ordered 18 of the latest Block 20 variant.
