Reply With QuoteHow FA-50 will compare to Gripen? It seems to be on the same weight class.
S. Korea to mass-produce armed version of trainer jet starting in 2013
60 FA-50 will be built between 2013 and 2016 to replace the older F-5E/F, along with 22 TA-50, among which ten are already operational.S. Korea to mass-produce armed version of trainer jet starting in 2013
SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will begin mass production of an armed model of its supersonic trainer jet starting in 2013, the state procurement agency said Friday.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said it will finalize a deal within this year so that the first armed version of the T-50 trainer jet, dubbed the FA-50, will be delivered to the Air Force by August 2013. Sources said up to 60 FA-50 jets will be produced by 2016.
FA-50s are designed to fill the void left by outdated Air Force fighters, such as the A-37 and F-5. Officials say the multirole FA-50 is comparable to KF-16 aircraft.
TA-50, the LIFT version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJKvM9laRZs
FA-50 prototype:
How FA-50 will compare to Gripen? It seems to be on the same weight class.
Given the specifications, you would think that the craft would make an excellent export for smaller nations being blacklisted by America and too poor for Russian designs. i.e. Taiwan, Phillippines, and so on.
From Wikipedia, it seems the Gripen is faster and slightly lighter, at the expense of less fuel and smaller payload.Originally Posted by Papenheims
Big difference is price. The FA-50 is about $21 million vs. $40 million for the Gripen.
It depends on how much US technology is in the aircraft.
More than likely, the FA-50 would fit in as a T-38/F-5 replacement.
The problem with Phillippines is that they can't not afford newer fighters due the budget and the F/A-50 seems like a likely buy for them. The problem with Taiwan though is not the budget since Taiwan can afford high-tech military equipment fighters and destroyers and is looking to buy 4.5/5 generations multirole fighters like the Rafale and F-35. The major problem is political issues since a lot of countries have relations with China and they won't sell Taiwan any weapons due to political fall back from them. Even though U.S is major supplier of military equipment to Taiwan, but after F-16 fiasco and with certain weapon systems being delayed and or canceled due political issues from the U.S because of bettering relations with China. Theoretically, South Korea can sell Taiwan the T/F/A-50 Golden Eagle, but with South Korea is having growing relations with China, the deal is highly unlikely to come forth.
How does this plane compare to the Indian Lca?
At its base form, FA-50 will be comparable to Gripen A/B in weapons integration with some edge in avionics and cockpit display because the airframe is newer. Aerodynamics is a more complex question but let's just say both are very maneuverable aircraft. The first sixty FA-50 will not yet equip JMHCS or IRST, and it will not yet integrate most foreign-made BVR weapons because of the quickness with which the planes must be built and deployed (sixty aircraft in three years) and their intended low-demand use in ROKAF (patrol, scramble jet, close air support, defensive counter-air). Some countries, like Poland, have initially requested JMHCS/AIM-9X on T-50P and the enabling of the T-50P radar's tracking mode for tracking and intercepting cruise missiles at BVR, but Poland has recently withdrawn such heavy combat requirements for T-50P due to cost concerns.
It depends at least as much on how much Korean technology is in the aircraft, and perhaps more as Korea's aerospace industry gradually evolves and becomes more technologically self-sufficient beyond its initial state of depency on foreign technologies in the 1990s and 2000s. We are going to integrate our future aircraft with a wide array of indigenous fighter weapons that will be developed without the use of US technology, and FA-50 will be the first plane to integrate them. US technology is not always necessary to improve FA-50's capabilities to that equaling F-16, though it can be useful. Korean technology has already been used in many US-led projects to improve its own air and naval weapons, like the JDAM-ER for aircraft and LOGIR for navy helicopters, and we also jointly design, develop, and manufacture F-15SE conformal weapons bay. It only makes a lot of sense that the experience from these developments find their way to Korea's current most indigenous aircraft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_D...Extended_Range
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-Cos...Imaging_Rocket
http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1499
The most intriguing aspect of the KF-X programme may not be the aircraft, but its new suite of weapons. DAPA has revealed plans to develop a full line of short- and medium-range air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles and precision-guided munitions.
The short-range air-to-air missile will be developed from the LIG Nex1 Shin-Gung, a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile, the administration said.
Meanwhile, DAPA has also been developing the Korea GPS guided bomb (KGGB), a 226kg (498lb) indigenous version of Boeing's joint direct attack munition.
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/art...ighter-363847/If you upgrade FA-50's capability comparably to Gripen C/D, it will likely cost as much as Gripen C/D does. Some upgrades can give FA-50 a distinct advantage over Gripen C/D, like increased thrust using EJ200 or F414, both of which can be installed with minimum modifications if the customer wants a change in the engine for either industrial (Typhoon users, like Spain, will want T-50 engine commonality with Typhoon) or performance reasons (USAF). That will expectedly increase FA-50's cost. We are also able to equip FA-50 with the same RACR that will be retrofitted on our KF-16 simultaneously with FA-50's production, but this makes the airplane similarly more expensive and we ourselves do not have the budget for equipping FA-50 with AESA radar yet.
It is also bidding to provide the AE 3007 for Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles and the EJ200 for the T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic jet.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news...123_96650.htmlMichael Griswold, Lockheed's director of T-50 business development, said the 22,000lb thrust GE F414 would be considered.
Griswold also confirms Rolls-Royce has offered the 20,000lb thrust EJ200 engine that currently powers the twin-engine Eurofighter Typhoon. Last year, Dan Korte, president of R-R Defence Aerospace, said the EJ200 had been offered to T-X bidders.
Even if a F414 is selected for a T-X version of the T-50, Griswold said, the EJ200 may still be a re-engining option for international customers, especially existing Typhoon operators.
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/art...gramme-357148/Selecting the RACR or SABR systems would avert this problem for an expected follow-on production phase.
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/art...ighter-334087/LCA and the current combat variants of T-50 both use EL/M-2032 radar, but compared to the original EL/M-2032 radar in TA-50, the FA-50 radar has its range increased by around 50% against a 1m2 RCS target, from 70km to 100km. The heaviest, latest development activity on FA-50 now appear to be concentrated around improving the radar's performance. Aside from that, all I can say is that FA-50 is a more mature design that has completed its development faster than LCA did.
Last edited by Ambassador; 11-06-2011 at 10:36 PM.
Nice job. Any info on the ECM suite on this bird ?
FA-50 can use LIG Nex1's ALQ-200K ECM pod. By the way, there was a rumor that ALQ-200K was going to be equipped on Pakistan's JF-17, but that had not yet been reliably verified.
http://articles.janes.com/articles/J...rea-South.html
We are jointly developing with LM advanced electronic warfare suites for T-50, advanced enough to be used in dedicated electronic warfare and SIGINT on RA-50 and EA-50. The FA-50 prototypes have initially been integrated with Elisra's EW suite that include RWR and flare/chaff dispensers. The Elisra deal was $7 million and there is no more information yet that I can find on ECM equipments for FA-50.
http://www.faqs.org/abstracts/Milita...-released.html
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/art...-fa-50-322317/
Just to confirm that all 60 FA-50 aircrafts to be built are for the S.Korean Air Force...
Yes, the sixty FA-50 in question here are all for ROKAF. But we can stiill produce FA-50 for other air forces if some of them purchase it in various configurations.
Good economic choice IMHO...
Also, given the specifications and presumably the fact that its less expensive than some of the mainline fighters, this would probably be very attractive for export especially to African and South American countries that lack the budget for true 4th generation fighters.
Just a small correction. The MMR on LCA is not 2032, however it uses several components from 2032 because of failure to develop several components on time. The current radar is produced as a JV with Elta. The MMR with full indigenous content shall be AESA compatible.
http://tejas.gov.in/technology/multi_mode_radar.html
I would not comment on maturity of either, however because the primary cause of delay of Tejas, its MMR, other capabilities have been jacked up to higher standards within that time period. The EW suite gone internal, though they don't have AESA T/X modules as DARE's MiG-29 UPG EW suite has, due to space/volume concerns required for cooling of AESA. A lot of avionics have already been working on Jaguar and Su-30 for a long time, just like FA-50 will use a lot of components from KF-16, but overall both FA-50 and Tejas mk1 are very similar in terms of capabilities. I wish the designers of both best of luck for the next variants.
The contract for the first 20 FA-50 has been signed. They should be delivered by the end of 2014. Contract value is $616 million for 20 jets.
Korea Aerospace inks deal to make country’s first jet
Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd, South Korea’s only maker of planes, said it signed a 711.2 billion won ($616 million) contract to build the country’s first jet fighter for the air force.
Korea Aerospace will provide 20 FA-50 jets by the end of 2014 under a contract with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the Sacheon, South Korea-based company said today in an e-mailed statement. The fighter was developed based on the T-50 trainer jet, it said.
http://english.alrroya.com/content/korea-aerospace-inks-deal-make-country’s-first-jet
Looks quite like the fighter now.Looking forward to good results in the export market in the future. The Philippines will become the next testing ground.
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