Korea’s defense industry is advancing on all fronts these days. On the armored vehicle front, vehicles like the
XK2 tank and
K9/K10 self propelled howitzer are beginning to win export orders, and its
XK-21/KNIFV
amphibious infantry fighting vehicle may not be too far behind. All
fill key market niches, promising performance at a comparatively
inexpensive price. Its shipbuilding industry, one of the world’s
busiest, is beginning to turn out
LHDs, and December 2008 saw its first-of-class
KDX-III AEGIS destroyer
accepted into service on time and on budget. Now its aerospace industry
is in flight abroad with the already-exported KT-1 trainer. Not to
mention a clever entry into the global trainer and light fighter
markets.
Enter the T-50 Golden Eagle family, which offers a supersonic
high-end trainer and lightweight fighter aircraft at an attractive
price. The aircraft is hitting the international market just as many of
the world’s jet training fleets are reaching ages of 30 years or more,
and high-end fighters are pricing themselves out of reach for many
countries. The TA-50
LIFT
variant and FA-50 lightweight fighter are especially attractive as
lightweight export fighters, and the ROKAF’s own F-5E/F Tiger II and F-4
Phantom fighters are more than due for replacement. Now the key
question for the platform is whether it can find corresponding export
sales…
T/F/A-50: The Planes
T-50, 3-view
(click to view full)
The T-50 was developed by Korea Aerospace Industries, Ltd., with
cooperation and global marketing support from Lockheed Martin. Both
firms were aware that many training aircraft fleets are aging, even as
higher-performance fighters demand trainer aircraft that can keep up.
The Korean government needed a fleet of trainers, and saw an opportunity
to give their aerospace sector a strong boost in the process. Total
investment in the T-50’s RDT&E program amounted to more than $2
billion: 70% from the Korean government, 17% from KAI, and 13% from
Lockheed Martin.
With a length of 43 feet and a wingspan of 30 feet, the 2-seat T-50
is about 4 feet shorter than the F-16; overall, it’s only about 80% of
the F-16’s size. The relative size of the control surfaces and tails are
larger, however, to improve handling characteristics at lower speeds
and make the aircraft easier to land. Larger landing gear is also
fitted, to absorb harder landings, which is to be expected from student
pilots. Its form’s resemblances to Lockheed Martin’s F-16 are
suggestive, and include the blended mid-set wing, complete with
leading-edge root extensions and rear ‘shelf’ fairings ending in
F-16-style split airbrakes. The air intake layout on the sides is
somewhat similar to the F/A-18 Hornet or Northrop’s excellent but
ill-fated F-20A Tigershark, and the aircraft is powered by the same
engine: GE’s popular, reliable and fuel-efficient F404, with slight
improvements over the F404-GE-402 to enhance single-engine redundancy
and reliability.
The T-50 trainer carries a basic navigation / attack system, which
gives it some multi-role capability. The aircraft can carry Sidewinder
missiles on the wingtips, as well as fuel, rockets, or qualified bombs
on its 5 underwing and center pylons. the center pylon and 2 inner
underwing pylons are “wet,” and can accommodate 150 gallon fuel drop
tanks.
The T-50 family’s empty weight is 14,000 pounds, and maximum takeoff
gross weight is 29,700 pounds; the F404-GE-102 engine produces 17,700
pounds of thrust. Maximum rate of climb is 39,000 feet per minute; and
the maximum speed is Mach 1.5. Service ceiling is 48,500 feet, the
design load factor is 8gs, and the trainer airframe is designed for up
to 10,000-hour service life (8,344 hours for the A-50).
T-50 cockpit
(click to view full)
Still, the plane is designed to be a trainer, with better rear
visibility than a 2-seat F-16. An “active stick” ensures that stick
movements in the front or rear are transmitted to the stick in the other
seat, to improve monitoring and learning. Embedded training features,
in-flight recording and post-mission debriefing capability are all built
in. The standard tools of a modern fighter pilot’s trade are likewise
present: “glass cockpit” of digital screens, HUD (Head Up Displays),
HOTAS (Hands On Stick And Throttle) control systems to keep everything
at the pilot’s fingertips, triple-redundant electrical system,
fly-by-wire, advanced radio and navigation systems including INS/GPS,
and a Martin-Baker zero-zero ejection seat. The seat back angle is 17
degrees – similar to the seat angles of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
and the F/A-22.
Per the standards for modern trainers, the aircraft is part of a
larger, integrated training system that includes simulators,
computer-based training, cockpit and maintenance trainers, and a
training management system.
Maintenance has also received careful thought. The new trainer’s
airframe will require no mandatory depot maintenance, and the aircraft
boasts a “single-tier design” with some 250 access panels allowing
technicians to get at any major system without having to remove any
others. Extensive self-diagnostics will help keep maintenance costs
down.
All in all, the T-50 may remind some people of the F-16 that was
originally designed by the “Fighter Mafia” back in the 1970s, when they
were busy breaking every big-jet, multi-role, high-priced rule the USAF
had cultivated for over a decade. Its thrust/weight ratio ensures that
it’s no F-16; even so, 25 years after the F-16 was entering service, it
retains one more comparison point: a similar price point in absolute
dollars. A $20 million price point in the modern era places it firmly on
the high end for a trainer, but its supersonic performance and
versatility could still make the T-50 very popular indeed.
Key market competitors include the subsonic BAE Hawk, Aermacchi’s now-supersonic M346, and its Russian twin the Yak-130.
T/A-50 LIFT
(click to view larger)
At present, 3 variants of the T-50 are planned, beyond the basic T-50 trainer aircraft.
One is the T-50B aerobatic variant, which has replaced the ancient
A-37 Dragonflys flown by South Korea’s “Black Eagles” national aerobatic
team.
The 2nd is the TA-50 lead-in fighter trainer (LIFT) variant. It adds
Lockheed Martin’s AN/APG-67v4 multi-mode radar, derived from the radar
that equipped Northrop’s F-20 Tigershark. It also has provisions for
radar warning receivers and specialty pods, sports a 3-barreled M61 20mm
cannon, and can carry Sidewinder air-air missiles, rocket pods, AGM-65
Maverick missiles, and Mk80 family bombs. If the specialty pods have
surveillance and targeting capabilities, it is likely that laser-guided
bombs and rockets could be added to their arsenal.
A slightly more expensive variant called the F/A-50 will be fitted
for the lightweight fighter and light attack roles, and can also serve
in the lead-in fighter trainer (LIFT) role alongside the TA-50. It will
have a wider range of equipment, but is hobbled by a key limitation.
The F/A-50 is also a joint KAI/ Lockheed Martin project, and the
associated agreements includes a number of restrictive terms. One is
that Lockheed will not transfer aircraft source code to other nations.
Another is that the T-50’s capabilities cannot exceed Korea’s F-16s,
though proposals to give the KF-16s AESA radar retrofits could break
that logjam. A 3rd provision banned South Korea from integrating T-50
variants with non-U.S. technology that the United States doesn’t have.
Instead of Selex Galileo UK’s Vixen 500E AESA radar, therefore, the
first F/A-50s will use IAI’s popular EL/M-2032 multi-mode radar,
installed by Lockheed Martin. It will be coupled to additional datalinks
like Link-16, a weapons management system, radar warning receivers, and
a MIL-STD-1760 databus. FA-50s will also be able to carry additional
electronic countermeasures equipment, and specialty pods like LITENING
or Sniper ATP for targeting, surveillance, etc. Weapons will include the
same lightweight 3-barreled M61 20mm gun, AIM-9 Sidewinder air-air
missiles, rockets, Mk80 family bombs, and AGM-65 Maverick missiles
carried by the TA-50. The enhanced radar, databus, and related systems
will expand the FA-50’s range of potential weapons by adding the ability
to carry GPS-guided weapons like
JDAM bombs, WCMD/SFW cluster bombs, JSOW glide bombs, etc. They’re also likely to enable the addition of
AIM-120 AMRAAM air-air missiles, anti-ship missiles, and other advanced armaments.
Any FA-50 exports to Arab countries would have to use the
AN/APG-67v4 radar and Sniper-SE surveillance and targeting pod from
Lockheed, however, as the Israeli-designed radar and LITENING pods will
not be an option. As advanced AESA radars become more mainstream in the
global military market, the lack of an AESA option is also likely to
cost the F/A-50 orders, unless KAI and Lockheed Martin come to an
agreement. Proposals to upgrade the ROKAF’s KF-16s with AESA radars
could offer a way out of the impasse.
T/F/A-50: The Program
Customers: ROKAF (102), Indonesia (16).
Key Prospects: USA, Israel, Poland.
Losses: Singapore, UAE (?)
- Jan. 2012: ROKAF FA-50 order?
- May 2011: Indonesia win.
- Jan. 2011: TA-50 production rollout.
- Sep. 2010: Singapore loss.
- Sep. 2009: IAI’s EL/M-2032 radar deal for FA-50/TA-50.
- Apr. 2009: ROKAF’s aerobatic Black Eagles switch to T-50B.
- Feb. 2009: UAE loss (?)
- Dec. 2008: Development contract for FA-50.
- Dec. 2006: ROKAF order #2, for T-50s and TA-50s
- Jan. 2006: T-50 development done, 1st 2 delivered.
- Feb. 2003: T-50 goes supersonic for 1st time.
- Oct. 1997: Development program authorized by ROK.
- 1992: Conceptual design begins.
T-50 cutaway, KAI
(click to view full,
scaled to fit page)
KAI is the T-50’s prime contractor, and is responsible for the
design of the fuselage and tail unit, final assembly of the aircraft,
and design of the accompanying training systems. The mid-mounted
variable camber wings are manufactured by Lockheed Martin, who is also
responsible for the avionics and fly-by-wire flight control system, and
provides technical consulting.
The production line at Saechon is designed for a
1.5-aircraft-per-month production capability with a single shift, but
the assembly process can produce up to 2.5 aircraft per month by simply
adding another shift if orders increase. Man Sik Park, director of the
T-50 management team at Sacheon, adds that “Getting more customers than
our line can currently handle is no problem because we can increase the
production rate further with additional tools and assembly jigs.”
TA-50 drops tank
(click to view full)
The ROKAF already has production orders for 102 of KAI’s aircraft:
50 T-50 trainers, 22 TA-50 LIFT/ light fighters (with an option for
another 22), 10 T-50B aerobatic aircraft that
replaced the Black Eagles’ A-37 Dragonflys,
and 20 FA-50s. Further domestic orders may follow in 2013 for 40-110
more upgraded FA-50 variants, to replace the RoKAF’s F-5 Tiger II and
F-4 Phantom fighters.
Outside South Korea, Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems and KAI
have created the T-50 International Company (TFIC) to pursue export
markets. Indonesia (16 TA-50/T-50i) remains the only export customer so
far.
The FA-50 in particular will offer performance that competes
favorably with likely competitors such as the Chinese/Pakistani JF-17,
and India’s Tejas LCA. All 3 of these jets are likely to find themselves
competing in the niche once occupied by a pair of 1960s-1970s era
competitors – Russia’s MiG-21s, and Northrop’s amazingly popular F-5,
which still flies with the ROKAF. Both aircraft types are still flying
in many air forces, and both are reaching the end of their lifespan.
Hence the market opportunity. Unlike its Chinese and Indian competitors,
however, the F/T/A-50 family’s secondary fighter trainer role makes it
attractive to first and second world air forces as well.
Note: article from www.defenseindustrydaily.com
