Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE
Samsung Aerospace and partner Lockheed Martin are examining ways of re-arranging KTX-II development work and funding schedules, in the wake of the South Korean Government's decision to slash the programme's first year budget.
The new administration of recently inaugurated President Kim Dae Jung has halved the initial year's allocation for the jet trainer/light combat aircraft to 40 billion Won ($28 million).
The move has been prompted by wider cuts in the defence budget in the face of South Korea's recent economic crisis.
Seoul has asked Samsung and Lockheed Martin to adjust their initial payment schedule accordingly, but at the same time is keen to avoid any slippage in the overall timetable of the programme..
Flight testing of the first of four prototypes is due begin in 2000, with initial deliveries to the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) following in 2005.
"We have no firm ideas yet how we will accommodate the shortage of funds, and keep the initial operational capability as planned...We're talking about moving some early workload to latter years," says a South Korean programme official.
In the meantime, Daewoo Heavy Industries is hoping to secure initial funding in 1999 to develop an armed forward air control (FAC) version of its KTX-1 turboprop basic trainer.
The RoKAF planning calls for the acquisition of around 20 FAC aircraft in 2003-4, but this will almost certainly be subject to the country's economy being revived.
The basic design of the armed KTX-1 drawn up by South Korea's Agency for Defence Development is understood to include provision for the installation of four underwing hardpoints for either auxiliary fuel tanks, rockets, bombs or cannon pods. The tandem seat cockpit would also need to be fitted with a gunsight and weapons management system.
The RoKAF's outstanding FAC requirement continues to attract the interest of competing foreign manufacturers such as Pilatus, offering the PC-9, and Embraer, with the EMB-314 Super Tucano. The two aircraft had originally been contenders for a South Korean trainer order for 20 aircraft, at a time when the KTX-1 was suffering from early development problems.
It was the RoKAF's stipulation that the trainer must be capable of performing the FAC mission that generated considerable controversy over the potential Pilatus deal. This was because of Swiss laws which prohibit the sale of weapons to areas of tension.
This deal eventually collapsed, but competing suppliers continue to show interest in South Korea in the event of the KTX-1programme once again faltering.
Source: Flight International
