The South Korean Air Force began training Polish pilots in the use of FA-50 fighter jets on Wednesday, the Yonhap agency reported. Last year, Poland ordered 48 such fighters, manufactured by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). As the head of the Ministry of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak announced on Twitter, the first 12 machines will be delivered to Poland this year!
Polish pilots on training in South Korea
Training began with the 1st Fighter Wing (an air force unit) in Gwangju, just over 300km south of Seoul, Yonhap said, citing South Korean officials.
This year the South Korean Air Force plans to train eight Polish pilots as part of a 23-week program conducted in two phases and including T-50 training aircraft. The FA-50 was developed from the T-50.
The first four pilots are expected to complete their training before July 21, and the rest will be trained from May 8 to October 13, Yonhap said.
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Hardware purchases in Korea
In August last year, Mariusz Błaszczak, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense, announced that 12 Korean FA-50 training and combat aircraft will be delivered to Poland in 2023. We are strengthening the Polish Air Force and the Polish Armed Forces to deter the aggressor, Błaszczak said at the time. The minister announced this today.
The first 12 aircraft of the FA-50 family will be delivered to Poland later this year. Pilot training in South Korea is underway. The purchase of the FA-50 is an important addition to the capabilities of the Polish Air Force
Blaszczak wrote.
As in July last year, after Deputy Prime Minister Błaszczak announced that Poland would buy the FA-50, the Air Force Inspector at the High Command of the Armed Forces, Major General. Jacek Pszczoła, South Korea produced this aircraft based on American F-16s.
The general said the FA-50 is a light two-seat multipurpose aircraft very similar to the F-16, but slightly smaller. He added that the South Korean aircraft can successfully perform air-to-air and air-to-ground tasks and is also capable of carrying laser-guided weapons, among other things.
General Pszczoła also noted that the FA-50 aircraft will be integrated into the system with the Polish F-16s, and that the infrastructure Poland has is sufficient to smoothly adapt these aircraft to the Polish Air Force.
The general also explained that the FA-50 is almost 4 tons lighter than the F-16 and can carry less armament; as for the cockpit layout, it is practically the same as the F-16 with the same fly-by-wire electronic control system.
The Korean side assures us that a pilot trained on the F-16 needs six hours to fly the FA-50 independently
General Pszczoła told PAP.
According to Yonhap, the T-50 series is now also used by Indonesia, Iraq, the Philippines and Thailand, and the South Korean Air Force has trained a total of 47 pilots from these countries since 2013.
kk/Twitter/PAP
Source: wPolityce