Colombia chooses KAI TA/FA-50 as its new advanced trainer aircraft

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Colombia has selected the Korean Aerospace Industries TA/FA-50 as its future advanced trainer aircraft to replace its current Cessna A-37B aircraft fleet about to be retired from service.

This decision comes months after a Colombian delegation, headed by the Vice-Minister of Defense and the second-in-command of the Colombian Air Force, visited South Korea in the second half of last year.

Likewise, the current government approved the selection of the South Korean aircraft of the Integral National Defense System (Siden), through which the equipment, systems, and means required by the Colombian Armed Forces to fulfill the constitutional missions assigned to them have already been chosen.

KAI TA/FA-50

The TA/FA-50 is a two-seater aircraft powered by a General Electric F404 plant, which allows it to reach speeds of up to Mach 1.5 (1,837 KmxH), with a maximum take-off weight of approximately 13,000 kilograms.

The aircraft can perform ground support operations thanks to its extensive weapons panoply, which includes an M-197 Gatling gun and the ability to deliver missiles and rockets, both guided and dumb bombs.

KOREA’S OFFER

According to InfoDefensa, in exchange for this purchase, South Korea has offered Colombia the donation of different means, among them ocean patrol boats and helicopters, to strengthen the already excellent defense and security relations between both countries.

The ties between both nations have already resulted in the donation, in the recent past, of two corvettes by the Korean Navy (ROKN) to the Colombian Navy (ARC), as well as in the support to the Colombian shipbuilding industry through its International Cooperation Agency.

With information from InfoDefensa

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