[Defense Commentary] The FA-50 Flying Over Southeast Asia

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[Monthly Defense Times Editor-in-Chief An Seung-beom] The FA-50 is a light combat aircraft derived from the T-50 Golden Eagle advanced trainer. The aircraft currently exported mainly to Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Thailand, are essentially the FA-50 light combat aircraft version.

The South Korean Air Force units operating the FA-50 are the 8th Fighter Wing at Wonju Air Base and the 16th Fighter Wing at Yecheon Air Base. The 8th Fighter Wing operates two squadrons, while the 16th Fighter Wing operates one squadron. Their missions include A-FAC (Airborne Forward Air Control), specifically Fast FAC, as well as operating as attack aircraft for CAS (Close Air Support), X-ATK (Counter-Fire), and BAI (Battlefield Air Interdiction).

Additionally, they are responsible for close air-to-air combat missions against North Korean MiG-19/21 fighters in airspace near the Demilitarized Zone.

The FA-50’s close air-to-air combat performance is generally excellent, making it capable of engaging the older North Korean MiG-19/21 fighters deployed at the front, which lack BVR (Beyond Visual Range) engagement capability with medium-range air-to-air missiles.

The interface and operational methods for close air-to-air combat in the FA-50 are similar to those of the F-16 fighter. The FA-50’s superior maneuverability is possible due to the excellent aerodynamic characteristics and well-matched engine.

The FA-50 is powered by the American GE F404-GE-102 engine. To prepare for malfunctions, it has a backup channel for engine control in addition to the main channel, and the afterburner also has a backup ignition system. This is a version specialized for single-engine fighters like the FA-50.

Additionally, the engine control system integrates FADEC (Fully Authorized Digital Engine Control), which provides excellent responsiveness and allows operation in optimal conditions under various flight scenarios.

The Israeli-made EL/M-2032 radar equipped on the FA-50 is a high-performance radar with excellent ECCM (Electronic Counter-Countermeasures) capabilities and various operational modes.

The radar operation modes used in combat are similar in performance to those equipped on the KF-16 fighter, but the ACM (Air Combat Maneuvering) mode used in close air combat has about one additional sub-mode.

For air-to-ground and anti-ship operational modes, the radar has even more types than the radar equipped on the KF-16. The EL/M-2032 radar’s precise air-to-ground target acquisition performance and excellent navigation system contribute to high precision in air-to-ground attacks.

The FA-50 is integrated with a Link 16 data link terminal, which allows navigation information correction through data sharing, further enhancing the FA-50’s air-to-ground attack accuracy.

The primary air-to-ground weapons used are mainly MK.82 500-pound general-purpose bombs and AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missiles, but it also operates GBU-38 500-pound JDAM GPS-guided bombs and KGGB glide-guided bombs.

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