Korea Aerospace Industries inks $110 million deal to export supersonic jets to Thailand

On September 17, KAI or Korea Aerospace Industries announced a $110 million deal with the Thai government.

Under the deal, KAI will export four T-50 supersonic jets to Thailand. The T-50 is the training version of the indigenous Golden Eagle jet and KAI is actively seeking orders for this variant. Iraq agreed to purchase 24 T-50 jets back in December of 2013 in a deal worth $1.1 billion. The Philippines purchased 12 T-50 variants back in March 2014 for around $420 million. In 2011, Indonesia purchased 16 T-50 jets for $400 million. The United States is also considering purchasing T-50 supersonic jets to use for its next generation $10 billion T-X trainer program.

The Thai Air Force hopes that the aircraft will be a driving force to modernize its military. That's not all as if all goes well, Thailand is seeking to purchase an addition 24 jets in the near future, which would mean a deal worth close to the Iraq deal of December 2013. According to the contract, all four jets will be delivered within 30 months.

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