Korea Aerospace Industries struck a deal to export six 5-50is to Indonesia. The 5-50i is a supersonic advanced trainer based on Korea’s first homegrown supersonic advanced trainer T-50, tailored to meet demands of the Indonesian Air Force. (Photo: KAI)

The Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) struck a 756.4 billion won contract to supply aircraft wing parts to a foreign aircraft company.

KAI said in an electronic filing that Korea’s sole aircraft manufacturer signed a deal on the additional supply of single aisle aircraft parts worth $663,364,420 (about 765.4 billion won) to its client.

The value of the latest contract accounts for 26.71 percent of the sales KAI logged in 2020 on a consolidated basis.
KAI said the company struck a deal on the additional supply of single aisle aircraft wing parts, but did not disclosed other details for reason of confidentiality of management information.

The destination of the aircraft parts, to be supplied by KAI, is the United Kingdom, and the contract will commence on Jan. 1, 2026 and end on Dec. 31, 2030.

KAI said, “We’ve decided to withhold the public notice on the business partner of the contract and its major terms since they are classified as the company’s business confidentiality.” But the current filing may be changed according to the progress situation, and if any, another filing will be made, the company said.

KAI Resumes Exporting of T-50i to Indonesia

KAI struck a contract to resume the exporting of Korea’s homegrown supersonic advanced trainer T-50 in four years. The deal is the first one of all aircraft since President Ahn Hyun-ho took office. KAI is seeking to land additional orders from several Southeast Asian countries, possibly this year.

KAI said on July 20 the company signed a deal to export six T-50i to the Ministry of National Defense in Indonesia (Indonesia Air Force).

The T-50i is a supersonic jet trainer for export to Indonesia based on the first supersonic advanced trainer developed for the Korean Air Force.

The T-50i is tailored to meet demands of the Indonesian Air Force. It is capable of carrying out training and light attack. The value of the contract is 274.488 billion won.

KAI sold 16 T-50is to Indonesia in May 2011. The aircraft manufacturer won an order to install radar and machine guns on the T-50i. The latest deal has brought to 22 the number of T-50is Korea has exported to Indonesia.

The figure is the second highest number following 24 T-50s Korea exported to Iraq. Korea also sold 12 T-50s and 12 T-50s to the Philippines and Thailand, respectively.

The latest deal came four years since July 2017 when Kai exported T-50s to Thailand.

KAI is holding negotiations on the exporting of T-50s with several Southeast Asian countries, and the signing of some contracts was imminent, reports said.

KAI has focused on new target markets such as Malaysia and Argentina. The T-50 is Korea’s first homegrown supersonic trainer, developed in 2005.

KAI Joins Forces with SpaceX in Launch of Next-Generation ‘Mid-Size’ Satellite

The Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is striving to secure advanced technologies coupled with the 4th Industrial Revolution.

In order to prepare for changing trends in the aerospace industry, KAI inaugurated the “New Space Task Force.”

The task force, headed by the chief of the Future Business Division, is formed with a companywide strategy group, financial group and other in-house capabilities.

The move is designed to lay a foundation to raise KAI to new heights by diversifying its business portfolio based on its core capabilities and competitiveness.

KAI has spearheaded the development of multi-purpose application satellites, next-generation “mid-size” satellites, and geostationary multi-purpose satellites since its establishment.

KAI dedicated the nation’s biggest civil aerospace center last August capable of producing subminiature satellites.

KAI is responsible for the assembling of Korean launch vehicles and next-generation mid-size satellites. KAI succeeded in the joint development and launch of a next-generation mid-size satellite in cooperation with Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) in March.

In the latest development, KAI signed an agreement with SpaceX to launch a fourth next-generation mid-size satellite and put it into orbit in 2025.

KAI said it was considering forging a strategic alliance with SpaceX in the aerospace sector for another segment than the launch vehicle.