Турки покупают у Южной Кореи 55 учебных самолетов за полмиллиарда долларов.
Korea, Turkey sign $500 million arms deal
Turkey and South Korea signed a $500 million contract to export 55 upgraded versions of the KT-1 Woongbi basic trainer aircraft last Friday in Эstanbul, the Korea Times daily reported yesterday.
Murat Bayar, head of the Undersecretariat of the Defense Industry, signed the contract representing the Turkish side, finalizing the deal.
According to a statement released yesterday by the state-funded Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), which concluded the agreement on the Korean side, the deal will be the second largest arms export of South Korea after Samsung Techwin’s $1-billion license deal for the K-9 self-propelled howitzer with Turkey in 2001. Turkey had awarded the contract to KAI, who was competing with the Brazilian Embraer company’s Super Tucano, on June 20.
“The initial deal was for the 40 KT-1s with a follow-up contract for the remaining 15 trainers being made in 2008,” the company said. KAI will develop an export version of KT-1, titled XKT1-C, equipped with advanced avionics systems, until 2009 and delivery will take place by 2013. Park Jae-jeom, a chief executive officer in charge of the KT-1 export, said “the KT-1 deal with Turkey is significant in that Turkey, which has used US-made trainers, has selected the Korean trainer. That proves the KT-1 has been recognized as the world’s top-class trainer with both great performance and affordability.” He added that they expected the KT-1 would get the upper hand in competing with foreign aircraft makers in the global trainer market.
Co -developed by KAI and the state-run Agency for Defense Development in 10 years between 1988 and 1998, the KT-1 is the first in its class to be designed entirely by computers. The trainer aircraft carries all the systems required to support intricate acrobatic maneuvers. It also has a computer-controlled flight system. The length of the plane is 10.3 meters and the aircraft has turbo-prop engines boasting 950 horsepower that can generate a maximum speed of up to 574 kilometers per hour. It can fly at an altitude of 9,000 to 11,000 meters at a distance of 1,700 kilometers without refueling.
The South Korean company has also been producing an armed version of the KT-1, dubbed KO-1, since 2003. It sold 12 KT-1 model aircrafts to Indonesia, who is pondering the purchase of 8 more.