2 S. Korean trainer jets leave for Indonesia in first export

SACHEON, South Korea -- Two South Korean military jets left for Indonesia on Tuesday in the country's first export of the supersonic trainer, officials said.

The move came two years after Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI), the country's sole aircraft maker, signed a US$400 million deal to export 16 T-50i trainer jets to the Southeast Asian country, KAI officials said.

South Korea has become the sixth country in the world to export supersonic jets following the United States, Russia, Britain, France and Sweden, they said.

The two trainer jets will make a stopover in Taiwan and the Philippines for refueling before landing on Iswahyudi Air Force base in Indonesia on Wednesday, according to the KAI.

The KAI said 14 other jets are scheduled to be delivered to Indonesia in seven separate occasions by December, four months ahead of schedule.

Ha Sung-yong, president and CEO of KAI, said that his company is pushing to sell T-50 jets to the Philippines, Iraq and Poland, though he sounded a cautious note over the possible exports.

He said the recent crash of a T-50 trainer during a routine training mission in South Korea did not have any big impact on export, though it damaged KAI's image.

Senior air force and KAI officials left for Indonesia and the Philippines to notify that there were no mechanical failures behind the Aug. 28 crash that killed two pilots, citing analysis of the black box from the doomed plane, according to the KAI.

Ha also said KAI's consultations with Canada's Bombardier Inc. on joint development of a 90-seat turboprop passenger plane did not go well.

"We thought Bombardier a strategic partner, but it was not appropriate for us," Ha told reporters on Monday at the company's headquarters in Sacheon, about 440 kilometers south of Seoul. He did not give further details on Bombardier.

He said his company is considering new projects with Boeing Co. and Airbus, though he did not elaborate.

Another KAI official said the planned strategic tie-up unraveled as "Bombardier asked us to provide parts instead of jointly developing a midsize turboprop plane." He asked not to be identified, citing the issue's sensitivity.

A call to Bombardier seeking comment went unanswered on Tuesday.

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