Flightline: 205 - Korea Aerospace Industries T-50 Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagle is the first supersonic aircraft developed by South Korea, and has spawned both fighter and attack variants
Development of the T-50 began in 1992 under the KTX-2 program, with the ROKAF looking to replace its aging AT-37 Dragonfly and T-38 Talon trainers. Looking to provide an advanced trainer for its fleet of KF-16 and F-15K airplanes, the ROKAF sought an aircraft capable of going supersonic, and Korea Aerospace Industries entered into an agreement with Lockheed Martin to co-develop the plane, with the ROK government providing 70% of the budget, KAI 17% and LM 13%. Financial issues saw the South Korean Ministry of Finance suspend the program in 1995, but it was quickly reinstated, and by 1999 the basic design had been agreed upon. The new trainer was named 골든이글 ("Golden Eagle") and designated the T-50 in February 2000, with production of the first prototype occurring between 15 January and 14 September 2001.
Orthograph of the Golden Eagle. | Illustration: Dr Dan Saranga
Design
Owing to KAI's experience license-building the KF-16 Fighting Falcon and the involvement of Lockheed Martin, which acquired the Fighting Falcon with it's merger with General Dynamics in 1993, the T-50 shows a strong resemblance with the F-16. A stretched acrylic canopy, which provides protection against objects up to four pounds travelling at 400 knots, is produced by Hankuk Fiber, and the cockpit seats two in tandem. The T-50 is 13.144m long, with a wingspan of 9.45m and a height of 4.94m. Empty, the aircraft weighs 6,470kg, while maximum takeoff weight is 12,300kg. Seven internal tanks have a capacity of 2,655L, while an additional 1,710L, in three external tanks, can be carried for longer missions. The Golden Eagle is powered by a single General Electric F404-102 turbofan engine, license-produced by Samsung Techwin, which had been fitted with an advanced Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) system jointly developed by GE and KAI as well as an afterburner. The modified engine produces 78.7kN of thrust, providing the T-50 with a top speed of Mach 1.5 (1,837kmh) and a maximum altitude of 14,600 meters. Maximum range is 1,851 kilometers.
Scale model of the T-50 at the 2007 MSPO trade show. | Photo: Łukasz Golowanow & Maciek Hypś, Konflikty.pl
The T-50s are equipped with the AN/APG-67(v)4 radar, originally developed for the Northrop F-20 Tigershark, from Lockheed Martin, along with a CPU and operating system developed by MDS Technology, the first real-time OS developed by an Asian company thus far. The main avionics and electronics warfare systems were developed by Samsung Thales and LIG Nex1, with other South Korean companies and defense institutes such as DoDAAM Systems, Aeromaster, Intellics, and Korea Institute of Defense Analysis also having provided systems and software. Golden Eagles are equipped with a Honeywell embedded global positioning/inertial navigation system as well as a radar altimeter. The cockpit incorporates modern Hands-On Throttle and Stick (HOTAS) controls as well as multifunction displays, and the aircraft is the first trainer to be fitted with triple-redundant digital fly-by-wire system.
Testing and operations
Rollout of the T-50 prototype in 2001. | Photo: KAI/Lockheed Martin
Maiden flight of the T-50 took place in August of 2002, and operational assessment of the plane took place between 28 July and 14 August 2003. The ROKAF signed a contract for 25 production T-50s in December of that year, with the first delivery scheduled for 2005. This order was later increased to 50, with an additional 10 T-50Bs, specially modified for aerobatics, being ordered for the ROKAF's Black Eagles aerobatic display team. Acquisition of the T-50 and T-50B were completed by 2016, and the type is now fully in service with the ROKAF.
Formation flight of the Black Eagles' T-50Bs in 2011. | Photo: KAI
Two ROKAF T-50s on a training flight. | Photo: Republic of Korea Armed Forces
Exports and developments
KAI and Lockheed have also sought other buyers for the T-50, with the US being the first potential client. Even before acquiring their own examples, the USAF was sufficiently interested in the Eagle to retain the T-50A designation so as to not have it applied to another plane. Meanwhile, as early as 2003 the USAF began planning a replacement for the Northrop T-38 Talon, then passing a fleet age of 50 years. This competition was officially opened in 2013 as the T-X program, and when the requirements were released in 2015 a number of companies offered new or existing designs, including the KAI/Lockheed Martin T-50A. On 27 September 2017 the Boeing/SAAB T-X was chosen as the new trainer, now designated the T-7 Red Hawk. Due to delays in the T-7 production line, the USAF announced in 2020 that it would be leasing four to eight T-50sfrom Hillwood Aviation as a stop-gap measure, though this has been delayed several times by the COVID pandemic.
Two existing T-50s were modified to T-50A standards as part of the T-X. TX-1 is equipped with a dummy refueling receptacle, which would have been standard on the T-50A. | Photo: KAI/Lockheed Martin
In addition to the ROKAF, the T-50 has also been exported to Indonesia (as the T-50i), and Thailand (as the T-50TH). Potential sales to Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Pakistan, Spain, and the UAE are still in discussion, and sales to Israel, Poland, Singapore and Taiwan were considered, but fell through. A planned order of the T-50 to Uzbekistan in 2015 was canceled by the US (the F404 engine requires an export license from the US), as relations with the country were poor.
A T-50i of the Indonesian Air Force. | Photo: KAI/Lockheed Martin
In addition to the T-50, KAI and Lockheed continued development of the Golden Eagle, producing the TA-50 trainer/light attack aircraft and the FA-50 light combat aircraft. The TA-50 is intended to be a trainer for attack aircraft pilots, with a secondary role as a light attack aircraft. The plane can mount air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, as well as precision or unguided munitions; an internal three-barrel version of the M61 20mm Vulcan cannon is fitted also. A Sniper targeting pod can be carried to mark targets for LGBs or missiles. The FA-50, meanwhile, is designed as an affordable 4th generation multi-role aircraft, with increased fuel capacity, improved avionics and a longer radome than the T-50 or TA-50. Fire control for both models is provided by the Elta EL/M-2032 system, initially developed for the IAI Lavi multi-role aircraft. The FA-50 is offered with the F404 engine, or either the Eurojet EJ200 or General Electric F414, both of which have roughly 12-25% higher thrust than the former. The FA-50 has an expanded electronic countermeasures, targeting, and reconnaissance capability, with Rafael's Sky Shield or LIG Nex1's ALQ-200K ECM pods, Sniper or LITENING targeting pods, and Condor 2 reconnaissance pods listed as possible additions. The FA-50 also has a wider array of potential weapons, including Rafael's SPICE family of guided bombs, GBU-97/105 sensor fuzed weapons dispensers, various models of the JDAM line, and potentially other anti-ship or stand-off missiles under development. For air-to-air missions, the FA-50's upgraded radar is compatible with the AIM-120 AMRAAM as well as Rafael's Python and Derby missiles, and in 2018 MBDA announced that the Meteor and ASRAAM would also be available for integration.
Roll-out of a TA-50 prototype in 2011. | Photo: KAI
Rendering of the FA-50 along with some of the weapons and other pods that can be carried. | Illustration: KAI
Both the TA-50 and FA-50 have been acquired by the Republic of Korea, with 22 TA-50s and 60 FA-50s in service by October 2016. Export clients of the TA- and FA-50 include Iraq (as the T-50IQ), and the Philippines, and potential sales to Brunei, Croatia, Colombia, Malaysia, Peru, Slovakia, and Vietnam. An order of FA-50s by the Argentine Air Force in 2016 was blocked by the UK due to the British arms embargo established in the wake of the Falklands conflict.
Two T-50IQ of the Iraqi Air Force, delivered on 6 June 2018. | Photo: Iraqi Air Force
FA-50s of the Philippine Air Force were the first of the type to see combat, with PAF aircraft dropping bombs on insurgent positions in Butig and Marawi in 2017, and again against ISIS-allied fighters near Barangay Walled City in 2019, and during a 2020 attack against New People's Army rebels in the Sultan Kudarat province. PAF Golden Eagles also escorted Phillipne president Beningo Aquino's aircraft to the 2016 ASEAN Summit.
Two of the four Golden Eagles escorting Presiden Aquino's airplane. | Photo: Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines
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Comments (4)
I prefer Gordon Murray's T50 if I'm honest.
I like how the koreans literally named it golden eagle (guehlden euhgl)
Uncanny resemblance to a F-16
It looks like it would carry July 4th fireworks