Defence Online

KAI agrees third deal with Royal Thai Air Force

Air December 2, 2019

Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has secured a contract worth around US $52 million with the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF).

The deal is an Upgrade & Modification program which aims to equip the T-50TH Jet trainers which RTAF operates with radars and the RWR, CMDS. The contract includes such follow-up and support as training, repairing parts and support equipment. The final delivery is slated for October 2021.

The signing ceremony held at Lotte Hotel, Seoul, including Kim Jo-won, President & CEO of KAI and Bhanupong Seyatongka Air Chief of RTAF.

The RTAF expects that the third contract could raise the performance of its T-50TH and further, will keep a high operation rate via the smooth operation of the aircrafts.

The Thai government has purchased four of the TH-50 in 2015 and on August 2017, it made the second deal for purchasing eight more. The four aircrafts under the first contract entered the service for training in March 2018. The eight units, which the RTAF additionally purchased, will be delivered by 2020, starting from late this year.

The T-50 variants are currently under operation in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia and have the potential to be utilised for advanced training and light attack capabilities, boasting its efficiency.

KAI is actively seeking to export the T-50 model to Malaysia, Argentina and the others. Also, in order to meet the diverse needs of customer, the company is looking to improve levels of performance, including enlargement capacity of armament and flight range.

image courtesy of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI)

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Post written by: Matt Brown