Kraków 2022-08-02
The background of the purchase of Korea Aerospace Industries FA-50 aircraft.
The importance of aviation on the modern battlefield cannot be overestimated. Thanks to significant technological advances, airplanes have rapidly gained in effectiveness due to precision weapon guidance systems. A single modern multi-role aircraft has greater potential than the WWII heavy bomber formation. In addition, the importance of unmanned aerial vehicles (BALs), often referred to as drones, has grown enormously. They can both conduct reconnaissance and precisely hit the selected targets. Having air dominance is extremely important to the conduct of military operations on land. However, it should be remembered that only from the air, you cannot beat a determined opponent.
The ongoing war in Ukraine proved the right direction of the Polish Defense Policy. Currently, only a strong Polish Army and the NATO alliance led by the United States of America can guarantee us relative security.
In Poland, the direction of development of Polish Aviation is known and clear. However, we do not know what are the most effective elements of implementing this policy. However, increasing the complexity of the aircraft and their combat capabilities had a negative effect in the form of a significant increase in their purchase and operation prices. What’s more, the weapons carried by these planes are usually several dozen times more expensive than their simple predecessors. The "Cost – Effect" theme is still running through. It also means a significant increase in the importance of training a single soldier and the necessity to attach great importance to his training.
On February 24, 2022, the day the bandit Putin attacked sovereign Ukraine, it clearly turned out that the number of around 100 combat aircraft was definitely not enough. That 2% of the national budget is not enough and people started talking about 3 – 4%. Our present potential aggressor, that is the Moscow state and its Military Vozdushnye Forces, have never been the most modern or the most numerous in the world. But their nuclear weapons give them a potential advantage. The war in Ukraine showed their shortcomings, including ineffective command. But this is not a plus for our site. On the contrary. It is difficult to resist an unpredictable aggressor who was, is and will be pathological. We, Poles, know it best. We must also remember that if Ukraine loses the present war, the US will be politically driven out of Europe. The leading countries in Europe will be Germany, France and the Moscow state. Perhaps Poland will be partitioned.
Currently, the Polish Air Force has just over 200 airplanes and helicopters and about 120 different radar systems to fulfill numerous tasks. About 16,000 soldiers support them. Slightly less than half of the machines, 98 to be exact, are combat aircraft.
The contract for the F-35 A aircraft has been signed.
On February 28, 2019, the Minister of National Defense, Mr. Mariusz Błaszczak, signed the technical modernization plan for the Polish Army until 2026. In it, he announced the spending of PLN 185 billion for the modernization of the army. He revealed that we would buy fifth generation fighter planes under the "Harpy" program. Only the American F-35 was involved. The plan to purchase 32 Lockheed Martin F-35 A Lightning II aircraft has been disclosed.
On January 31, 2020, the Minister of National Defense, Mariusz Błaszczak, signed a contract for the purchase of 32 fifth generation Lockheed Martin F-35 A Lightning II aircraft. The contract worth USD 4.6 billion (approximately PLN 17.8 billion) also includes mission simulators, a backup engine, pilot and service training, and operation support. Of course, the freemasons did not like this agreement. They threw the slogan – "We are addicted to the USA" and "Agreement without an offset". The first planes will arrive in Poland in 2024.
Further contracts for the purchase of armaments for the Polish Army. KAI FA-50 planes.
A few months later, Europe experienced a temporary shock. The bandit Putin has attacked Ukraine. The shock lasted only two or three weeks, because for our Western neighbors the most important thing was – Let Putin not close their tap and continue to trade with barbarians. The war turned into months of conflict, with all the worst features of the war; genocide, rape, theft and total destruction. This war proved that in the 21st century, all peace deals can be thrown into the bin, and the Chinese-induced "Coronavirus" pandemic suddenly became irrelevant.
On July 27, 2022 (Wednesday), Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defense Mariusz Błaszczak approved contracts for South Korean weapons for the Polish Army. Poland ordered: FA-50 light fighters, K2 tanks and K9 self-propelled gun howitzers.
Poland will buy 48 FA-50 light fighters from Korea, the first 12 of which are to be delivered to Poland in mid-2023. The planes will be configured in accordance with the requirements of the Polish Air Force and equipped with the IFF NATO identification system.
According to the spokesman of the Armaments Agency, Lieutenant Colonel Krzysztof Płatek, the choice of this aircraft was determined by "primarily its availability and the fact that they can quickly replace the aging post-Soviet technology, i.e. the Suchoj Su-22 and Mikojan and Guriewicz MiG-29 planes", and in the target configurations with guided missiles and a new radar will complement Lockheed Martin F-16 Jastrząb fighters.
Already in 2010, the Polish Army was considering the possibility of purchasing the KAI T-50 Golden Eagle planes in place of the training PZL TS-11 Iskra. But then the inept government in Poland (the civic platform and the Polish people’s party) created a fictional competition, after which only shame remained. It was not even possible to define the final WTT to be fulfilled by the plane.
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) FA-50 is a multi-purpose aircraft that can be used for advanced training and as a combat machine, armed with guided and unguided bombs, air-to-air missiles and barrel weapons. It was designed by Korea Aerospace Industries in cooperation with Lockheed Martin, a manufacturer of F-16 and F-35 aircraft. In the school version, its maximum speed is 1.5 Ma and the ceiling is 16,800 meters. Span 9.45 m. Length 13.14 m. Height 4.81 m. Own weight 6,470 kg. Range 1,850 km. A crew of two pilots. The aircraft is powered by the General Electric F404 engine, which is used, among others, in Boeing FA-18 Super Hornet aircraft.
Poland will be the first European country to introduce FA-50 aircraft into service. Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) CEO Hyunho Ahn said 48 FA-50s are KAI’s largest single export order. The KAI concern counts on long-term cooperation with Poland and our defense plants. The Philippines bought the first aircraft of the FA-50 PH version. We should also remember that the KAI concern is currently working on a multirole aircraft designated Next Generation Fighter KF-21, which looks like a smaller F-22 Raptor plane.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman