home Technology Aircraft South Korean Trainer Jet – to the US

South Korean Trainer Jet – to the US

Nov 28, 2016

011113-F-2171A-020 — Air-to-air left side view of an USAF T-38 Talon aircraft from 560th Flying Training Squadron, Randolph AFB, TX flying over the Texas countryside.

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

South Korea’s trainer jet made its first test flight in the United States after the two countries agreed to mutually recognize its airworthiness certification in September.

The US Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) stated that the ‘T-X’ trainer, a modified version of the T-50 planes in service with the South Korean Air Force, is a candidate to replace the existing jets operated by the US Air Force. The advanced trainer jet will replace the T-38 Talons in use at present.

The T-X trainer jet was built by the Korea Aerospace Industries Co. (KAI). “The T-X’s test flight in the US means that the US DOD has officially accepted the airworthiness certification domestically earned for the South Korean aircraft,” a DAPA spokesman said.

According to defenseworld.net, DAPA believes that the mutual recognition of airworthiness certificates would assist South Korea in exporting its trainer jets to the US in the long term. He added that South Korea recently signed a $1.2 billion deal with Lockheed Martin Corp. to gradually upgrade its entire 134 F-16 fighter jets during the 2017-2020 periods. Under the upgrade contract, Lockheed will modernize the 134 KF-16s to a configuration similar to its advanced F-16V model.

The upgrades include an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar; a modern commercial off-the-shelf-based avionics subsystem; a large-format, high-resolution center pedestal display; and a high-volume and high-speed data bus, the US aircraft company said on its webpage.

AESA is a type of phased array radar whose transmitter and receiver functions are composed of numerous small transmit/receive (T/R) modules. AESA radars have almost instantaneous scanning rates, making them difficult to jam and allowing the aircraft employing the technology to remain stealthy.

The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a combat-proven multi-role fighter with more than 4,570 F-16s delivered. The F-16 currently serves as the workhorse of the fighter fleet for 25 nations around the world, according to Lockheed’s statement.