Lt. Gen Stephen G. Wood, Commander of the 7th US Air Force here in Korea was given a back seat ride on the T-50, Korea’s domestically produced supersonic trainer, becoming the first USAF officer to ride aboard the T-50.
According to the Korean media, the general commented that the aircraft was “very good”. On top of all the publicity, the Korean media is also claiming that this will help Korean Aerospace Industries(KAI) efforts to sell the T-50 to the USAF.
14 Comments
Yeah, I am sure the KAI will leapfrog Boeing, and Lockheed Martin
Definitely.
Actually, Lockheed Martin is the point company for the international marketing and sales of the T-50.
“built with the nation’s own technology”? Hmm…Don’t they mean instead that it was domestically designed?
I’ve had more Korean technology come out of my ass than this thing has. Every subsystem is either built under license or comes direct from overseas. LockMart engineers held their collective hand the whole way through. At least they are no longer calling it “the world’s first supersonic trainer,” at least I hope they’re not, what with this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-38_Talon flying since 1959.
That said, it is a decent airplane and I wish them luck with export sales.
‘I’ve had more Korean technology come out of my ass than this thing has.’
‘That’s what she said.’ (Michael, from The Office)
@ wedge, thanks for the laugh.
Additional T-50 photos and information can be found here:
http://www.koreaaero.com/main/main.php
English version here:
http://www.koreaaero.com/english/main/main.php
and here:
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/.....amp;sc=400
Ah…
I see the rabbit laughs at the tortoise again…
One thing I’ve realized regarding the western mindset is it’s disturbing habit of dismissing or disregarding or flat out underestimating East Asian reverse engineering skills.
I’m sure in the 60’s RCA and Zenith laughed at Sony, in the 70’s GM laughed at Toyota, etc.
Now my question is why in the world is Lockheed helping Korea in the first place? Why don’t they just charge for everything like GD did w/the F-2 for Japan’s self defense forces? Why even transfer aerospace technology to Korea in the first place?
Check this out. So the states transfer certain M-1A1 technologies to Korea for the K1A1 program. From what Korea learns from the K1A1 program they create the XK2, which they succeed in selling to Turkey. Now that’s half a billion dollars that’s NOT going to a U.S. or European tank manufacturer and hence it’s no new hires at a plant in Louisiana or Bavaria.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KAI_T-50_Golden_Eagle
Well, it’s clear that some of the key technologies used were not developed in Korea. But, isn’t this plane’s fuselage and wings covered by some sort of lightweight ultra-resistant cloth that was developed by a Korean company? I remember reading this in the papers. The way the reporter had put it, it appeared this was a key feature of the plane as it greatly reduced its weight. When you compare this plane to other similar trainers, it’s quite heavy. I guess it wouldn’t have been able to get off the ground if it wasn’t for that design feature.
“Now my question is why in the world is Lockheed helping Korea in the first place?”
The T-50 was developed as part of a technology offset given to S. Korea when the ROKAF bought 120 KF-16s in 1992. So LM would have been contractually obliged to help KAI develop the T-50.
“Check this out. So the states transfer certain M-1A1 technologies to Korea for the K1A1 program. From what Korea learns from the K1A1 program they create the XK2, which they succeed in selling to Turkey.”
GDLS designed the K-1, using the M-1 as a base, and gave it to the Koreans so they can mass produce it. As for the K-1A1, the Koreans simply replaced the 105mm gun with a 120mm gun and modified the turret so that the new gun could be attached. Plus some of the fire control equipment was replaced with Israeli made equipment.
As for the XK2, well you could say that Korea took its lessons from the K1A1 and improved on it. But still, if you look closer, a lot of foreign technology went into that tank. The engine is German. The Korean Agency for Defence Development(ADD) bought the 120mm 55 cal gun from Germany, copied it, it also bought the automatic loader from France, and copied it too. The active defense system that will be installed is Russian. So frankly, I don’t see any leaps in Korea’s ability to design a tank compared to the K-1 project.
As for the Turkish sale, the XK-2’s competitor was the French Leclerc. The Turks aren’t that crazy about the French, since France was blocking its entrance into the EU. And they aren’t crazy about the US and Germany either considering that they are criticizing Turkey regarding the Kurd minority. So it would be logical for Turkey to go for the XK-2. I’m not saying that the XK-2 is a bad tank, that this time, its selection was more influenced by the politics rather than its merits.
The first two pages of a google search (”replacement for USAF T-38″) produced the below news item (dated April 2001), from what appears to be an aerospace business publication.
It implies to me that the USAF is looking to continue the T-38 in service for years to come. No search result showed anything about a projected replacement for the USAF T-38, either by this Korean aircraft or any other:
http://www.sae.org/aeromag/tec...../tech7.htm
“…To help extend the service life of the U.S. Air Force’s 40-year-old T-38 Talon supersonic trainer, Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Integrated Systems Sector has begun production of 55 replacement wings for the aircraft. The replacement wings will serve the Air Force’s needs while a new wing design is worked on at Northrop Grumman. The new design, which is expected to double the current service life of the trainer, is scheduled to enter production in 2006. The Air Force plans to retrofit the entire T-38 fleet with the new wing.
The T-38 has been used to train more than 60,000 Air Force pilots since its introduction into service in 1961. Nearly 1200 Talons were produced by Northrop Grumman, and more than 500 are currently operational with the Air Force and NASA…”
# 10, I understand that the XK2 is a combination of a lot of different, practically off the shelf, technologies. Then again, the M1 benefited greatly from British armor and German weapons technology, did it not?
Even the successful integration of advanced, abit off the shelf, technologies to create a weapon’s system that is on paper at least highly capable is an accomplishment itself.
Regarding the sale to Turkey, I believe that the company that makes the Leopard 2A6 was also in competition per this article:
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-.....ink=114840
The deciding factor was that the Korean sale involved sizable technology transfer and the German proposal did not.
Thanks for the T-50 tech transfer info. I didn’t know that. All the more reason why the F-2 procurement by the JSDF was a rare example of an American company (GD) staging highway robbery on a Japanese company (Mitsubishi).
#12, Thanks for the info regarding the Leopard 2A6.
As for your comment regarding technology transfer, the core of the Turkish tank project was the local production of the tanks with foreign technology. So the technology transfer was the key. It’s the same type of deal as the deal that involved the sale of K-9 howitzer technology to Turkey.
Of course I hope that this time the Turks won’t claim that they produced it with their domestic technology like they did with their version of the K-9.
I’ve read a few years ago that the Korean Armed Forces were going to buy frequency hopping radio technology, or maybe just the sets, from a Canadian company.