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The Chosun Ibo newspaper reports that Korea Aerospace Industries has finalized a contract to export 55 of its homegrown XKT-1 light trainers to Turkey by 2013. The deal is valued at $500 million, making it Korea’s largest ever aircraft order and the country’s second largest defense sale behind the $1 billion 2001 with Turkey for its K-9 mobile howitzer. Other sources including Yonhap, Middle East Times, et. al. confirm the news.
The XKT-1 is an improved version of the KT-1 basic trainer that can be equipped with a 225-kg bomb or a cannon for light attack duties; it beat other contenders for the Turkish order, including the USA’s T-6 Texan II and Brazil’s EMB-314 Super Tucano. KAI has exported 19 KT-1s to Indonesia, and sees possible sales in Latin American nations such as Mexico and Guatemala – though it would face strong competition from Brazil’s EMB-314 Super Tucano in that market. A variant of the KT-1 is also on the short list for Iraq’s counter-insurgency aircraft competition.
South Korean officials believe the plane’s export prospects are promising, as “more than 3,000 jets of the KT-1 class are in operation in 67 nations and at least 200 of them are estimated to be replaced within the next decade.” Park Jae-jeom, KAI’s chief executive officer of exports, reportedly said that “The export deal to Turkey is a successful case of government, private and military cooperation among KAI, the Defense and Commerce Ministries, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the Air Force [ROKAF].”