First T-50 Golden Eagles Delivered to Korean Air Force

Only Supersonic Trainer in Production Today

In December 2005, just 24 months after receiving the low-rate initial production contract, Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) delivered the first two production T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainers to the Republic of Korea Air Force. The success of this development program was highlighted by KAI and team partner Lockheed Martin during a briefing to the press at the 2006 Asian Aerospace conference and air show here today.

"As the world's only high performance supersonic trainer in production, the T-50 will introduce a new generation of pilots to the power of modern, advanced fighters such as the F-16 and 5th Generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter," said Dr. Alex Jun, vice president of marketing for KAI. "The T-50 integrated training system provides pilots with the best training solution available. It incorporates a high performance supersonic fast jet trainer, a modern ground based training device, and a fully integrated logistics support package; all designed to provide the most efficient training environment at lowest life cycle cost."

"The T-50 program's transition from a flight testing program to production and delivery in less than two years is quite phenomenal," said Jun. "Being able to deliver the aircraft to our customer in such a short period illustrates the well thought out design of this aircraft."

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