T-50 Supersonic Trainer development programme on course

Officials from the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF), Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Lockheed Martin have said that the T-50 Golden Eagle development programme is on track and the supersonic trainer is performing well in every aspect.

Lt. Col. Cho Gwang Je, ROKAF T-50 chief test pilot, gave an overview of the T-50 development programme, focusing on the flight-test activities. Cho, a seasoned fighter pilot and test pilot, was the first to fly the T-50 on 20 August 2002, and is the high-time T-50 pilot.

"It should be a very safe aircraft, and our student pilots should adapt to it very quickly," Cho said. "More importantly, our pilots will be able to transition very quickly to our modern fighters, the KF-16 and the F-15K, because of the skills learned in flying the T-50. Not only will they be familiar with the performance and handling qualities of a fighter-type aircraft, they will also have the experience of operating a modern fighter cockpit and a well-integrated avionics system."

Cho said the T-50 will have several high-technology features, which will enhance pilot training compared to current trainers. One is the full-authority digital flight control system, which features selectable maneuver-performance levels for phased learning and an active side-stick controller that provides feedback to the pilot in the other cockpit. Another is the data-transfer system, which has embedded training functions that, together with audio/video recording, should significantly aid in post-flight debriefings.

ROKAF pilots selected for fighter assignments subsequently will receive tactical training in the T-50 Lead-In Fighter Trainer (LIFT) version, which also has a multi-mode radar, an internal 20 mm gun and an armament system for delivering a variety of air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons. The T-50 will reduce the number of trainer types and transition times for fighter pilots, plus it will reduce the initial pilot combat qualification burden on operational units. These factors will provide world-class training at reduced total training costs.

"We have taken the aircraft to its operational ceiling of 40,000 feet and flown it supersonic to Mach 1.2 (1.2 times the speed of sound)," Cho said. "We are using a stair-step approach of expanding the flight envelop to the flight-test limits. We are looking forward to start of flight test on our two T-50 LIFT aircraft later this summer."

"We have experienced no major problems and are tracking on schedule in all respects. We are confident we will have all prerequisites completed soon for a favourable Initial Production Authorization by the Korean government later this year," said Ahn, Taek Soon, KAI's executive vice president for Strategic Business Development and retired ROKAF general officer.

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