Tuesday 13 April 2021

Korean media: "Fierce Dragon" and FA-50 decisive battle to purchase Malaysian fighter aircraft, an ability that left South Korea behind

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韩媒：“枭龙”与FA-50决战马来西亚战机采购，一项能力让韩方落后_轻型

2021-04-12 14:46

[Global Network Reporter Zhang Haichao] According to the "Korea Times" quoted sources on April 11, South Korea's first domestically-made light attack aircraft FA-50 is being jointly developed with China and Pakistan to jointly develop the JF-17 "Fierce Dragon" fighter jet. Compete for the light fighter project of the Malaysian Air Force. According to reports, due to the Malaysian Air Force's request for better medium-range weapons capabilities, the South Korean FA-50 lags behind the China-Pakistan JF-17 "Fierce Dragon" fighter in the bidding.


According to reports, Malaysia plans to purchase 18 new fighters to replace its aging MiG-29 fleet. The source said: "Although there are completely different manufacturers (competing), FA-50 and JF-17 are fighters participating in the finals."

If the South Korean side wins the deal, it will compensate for the failure to export eight FA-50 fighter jets to Argentina. It is reported that due to the United Kingdom’s arms embargo measures, the FA-50, which uses certain British components, cannot complete its export transactions to Argentina.

However, the "Korea Times" pointed out that FA-50 lags behind JF-17 in this competition because the latter has better medium-range weapons capabilities, which is a requirement of the Malaysian Air Force.

According to reports, the Malaysian Air Force’s purchase of new fighter jets initially attracted the participation of French Rafale, European Typhoon and American F/A-18 fighters. However, due to budgetary issues, the project was adjusted to purchase light fighter jets. India's "brilliant" LCA, Italy's M346 and Russia's Yak-130 provide opportunities.

According to earlier reports, Malaysia has been indecisive about the choice of specific models for a long time.

The "Times of India" website stated on April 3 that the Malaysian Air Force team "very likely" will visit India in the next two months to examine the applicability of the "Brilliant" LCA fighter jets. The report claimed that "Glorious" is the biggest competitor of the Malaysian Air Force's light fighter project, but also admitted that although the Indian Air Force has ordered 83 "Glorious" LCAs, the unit price exceeds 42 million US dollars.

In addition, the "Eurasia Times" website reported on April 7 that after several setbacks in the bilateral relations between Malaysia and India last year, the feasibility of India's sale of fighter jets has always been uncertain. While Sweden’s competing Gripen fighters are expensive, South Korea’s T-50 (FA-50) does not have much opportunity.

According to data, JF-17 "Fierce Dragon" (Pakistan called "Raiden") is a multi-purpose light fighter jointly developed by China and Pakistan. Sea strike capability. At present, it has entered service in the Pakistan Air Force in large numbers, and took down a UAV for the first time in June 2017.

FA-50 is a variant developed by Korea Aerospace Industry Corporation (KAI) based on its T-50 supersonic advanced trainer. At present, in addition to South Korean Air Force equipment, it is also exported to countries such as Iraq, the Philippines and Thailand. In 2020, the Thai Ministry of Defense cancelled the purchase order for two F/A-50 (T-50TH).


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