TSAMTO, July 22. On July 20, the South Korean company Korea Aerospace Industries Co. (KAI) announced the signing of a contract for the supply of additional T-50 training aircraft for the Indonesian Air Force.
According to the Yonhap news agency, the sale cost was $ 240 million. According to the terms of the contract, KAI will supply the Indonesian Air Force with six T-50 advanced training vehicles in the period from December 2021 to October 2024. The contract also includes aircraft maintenance.
The agreement will enter into force after the company receives the prepayment. According to Janes, the initial payment is planned to be made at the expense of the Indonesian defense budget for 2022. It is expected that it will be sent to KAI by the end of 2021. The remaining amount must be financed by a loan from a foreign bank. Currently, the Indonesian Ministry of Defense is searching for foreign creditors. The permission to obtain a foreign loan was previously approved by the country's Ministry of Finance after consultations with the Indonesian Ministry of Defense and the Indonesian Ministry of National Development Planning (Kementerian Perencanaan Pembangunan Nasional: BAPPENAS).
As reported by TSAMTO, the Ministry of Defense of Indonesia signed a contract with KAI worth about $ 400 million for the supply of the first batch of 16 new T-50i jet TCB in May 2011. The first pair of planes arrived in the Republic of Korea on September 11, 2013, the last-on January 25, 2014. The TCB became part of the 15th Typhoon Squadron stationed at the Isvahyudi Air Base.
The contract with Indonesia was the first export sale of a South Korean aircraft. The new aircraft replaced the outdated TCB/UBS "Hawk" Mk.53.
To date, KAI has exported a total of 154 training aircraft with a total cost of $ 3.1 billion – 70 T-50 advanced training vehicles worth $ 2.6 billion and 84 KT-1 basic training vehicles worth $ 700 million. The company's customers are Indonesia, Iraq, Thailand, Turkey, Peru and the Philippines.
