Lockheed Martin, Korea Aerospace Industries launch new partnership

Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) recently announced their latest partnership agreement, focusing on future T-50 opportunities.

The T-50 is a proven aircraft program designed to reduce the new pilots learning curve while aiding the process of pilots flying faster operational sorties.

“Lockheed Martin is an air power solutions leader, delivering capabilities across the entire spectrum of training and combat aircraft,” Lockheed Martin Integrated Fighter Group Business Development Vice President Aimee Burnett said. “We are proud to continue to partner with KAI on the T-50 to leverage our collective experiences to train the next generation of pilots to fly, fight and win.”

The T-50 program has reduced the number of required flights for Korean pilots learning in the KF-16 to nine sorties – adding feedback from many of the 2,500 pilots who have been trained in the T-50 across 3,750 test flights showed it is easy to fly and offers controls similar to other Lockheed Martin aircraft such as the F-16 and F-35.

“We are focused on readiness for the fleets and customers we support and bringing new digital tools to enable new capabilities,” Burnett said. “And we’re seeing success. As an example, with the T-50, the mission capable rate is holding strong at 90 percent across 300,000 flight hours – an outstanding result that demonstrates our focus.”