KAI and Air Force Share Know-How With Six Nations

Participants in the international meeting held in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, pose for a commemorative photograph. (Provided by Yonhap News Agency) Officials from six countries that have introduced and are operating Korean-made aircraft — Indonesia, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Thailand, and Türkiye — gathered in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province. The event was arranged by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and the Air Force as a venue for technical cooperation aimed at improving maintenance efficiency for Korean-made aircraft and passing on know-how in flight safety management. KAI, jointly with the Air Force, is holding the 15th Korean-made Aircraft Technical Coordination Group (K-TCG) and the 9th Safety Managers Group (SMG) international meeting for three days from on Oct. 21 to 23. About 140 domestic and overseas officials, including 24 representatives from the six foreign countries as well as officials from the Air Force, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, KAI, Hanwha Aerospace, and LIG D&A, are taking part in the event. At the core of the meeting is a logistics support strategy to help ensure the stable operation of Korean-made aircraft. KAI presented specific measures to reduce operation and maintenance costs while enhancing the reliability of weapon systems. In particular, it drew the attention of participating countries by introducing best-practice cases of performance improvement for the FA-50 aircraft, which has recently been in the spotlight in export markets. The Air Force also provided technical support based on data from actual operational sites. It disclosed in detail the current management status of the T-50 advanced trainer and KT-1 basic trainer aircraft families, while sharing flight safety statistics and accident investigation cases and emphasizing the importance of safety management. Beyond simply delivering information, time was also set aside to directly hear the difficulties overseas operators face in relation to logistics support in the field and to seek solutions. Officials from the six countries attending the meeting are also scheduled to visit the Sacheon Air Show site and personally watch demonstration flights of Korean-made aircraft.