TA-50 Series: South Korea’s Golden Eagle Jets Soar at Mach 1.5 with Night Attack Capability – Part 1

The T-50 series aircraft is the first supersonic jet trainer and attack aircraft developed with domestic technology in South Korea. It became the twelfth country in the world to develop a supersonic aircraft with its own technology. The official name is T-50 Advanced Trainer. It is nicknamed the Golden Eagle. It measures 43.96 feet in length, 31 feet in width, and 16.1 feet in height. Its maximum speed is Mach 1.5, its takeoff weight is 29,660.99 pounds, and its practical climbing altitude reaches 48,500.65 feet.

This aircraft was developed under the lead of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), which started the project in 1990 and began full-scale development with Lockheed Martin of the United States in 1997. The aircraft was completed in October 2001 and succeeded in its first public flight the following August.

Afterward, it broke the sound barrier on February 19, 2003, and after undergoing durability tests to verify a service life of 25 years, it began mass production in 2005.

A total of over 140 units, T-50·TA-50·T-50B·FA-50 in possession

The T-50 Golden Eagle advanced trainer has a solid foundation and outstanding performance. Since transitioning to various mission aircraft, including fighters, the T-50 series aircraft has made history with exports to five countries and 120 units 19 years after its first production. The Air Force is known to have over 140 units, including T-50 advanced trainers, T-50B aerobatic aircraft, TA-50 tactical introductory trainers, and FA-50 light attack aircraft.

The TA-50 trainer was initially designed for fighter pilot training, such as the F-15A·F-16·F-22. Thanks to its digital flight control system boasting high maneuverability, digital control engine, robust airframe, landing gear, etc., it is evaluated as having the best performance among trainers of the same class.

In May 2011, it entered the sixth supersonic aircraft exporting country in the world, following the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and Sweden, by signing an export contract for a total of 16 T-50is with Indonesia. Subsequently, 24 T-50IQ aircraft were exported to the Iraqi Air Force, 12 T-50PH aircraft to the Philippine Air Force, and 12 T-50TH aircraft to the Thai Air Force.

South Korea’s first developed combat aircraft, the FA-50, is an attack aircraft that was developed by modifying the TA-50 under the lead of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) in collaboration with Lockheed Martin of the United States to replace the aging A-37B, F-5E/F, etc. of the Air Force. Based on the excellent flight performance of the T-50 advanced trainer, it is an aircraft developed by equipping a tactical data link, precision-guided bomb, self-protection equipment, etc. It has been in operation since it was deployed for operations in 2013.

The T-50 series uses the TA-50, a tactical introductory trainer, as a basic model, and the T-50, which has removed the machine gun and radar, is employed as an advanced trainer for training formation flight, instrument flight, air combat maneuvering, navigation flight, night flight, etc. The FA-50 concept adds threat auxiliary equipment, night operation capability, tactical data link, and precision bombing capability to the TA-50.

The radar applied to the FA-50 was changed from the existing AN/APG-67 to the Israeli-made EL/M-2032 radar. Initially, considering the future combat environment, the installation of the Vixen 500 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar was considered. Still, it was finally decided to use a mechanical radar due to export approval issues. The EL/M-2032 radar has various air-to-air and air-to-ground modes, making it suitable for attack missions. In particular, the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image, combined with precision-guided weapons, greatly enhanced the mission capability of the FA-50.

Part 2
Part 3