On March 9th, the KAI concern published the first photo of the KAI FA-50 Golden Eagle jet aircraft in the Polish Air Force livery.
The photo was taken at the manufacturer’s plant, the KAI concern – in total, deliveries of the first twelve planes will start this year, which come from a batch ordered by the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Korea, which gave the production slots to Poland. The training of the first four Polish pilots has already started in the Republic of Korea, and additionally also the technical staff.
What catches the eye is the tactical number “5002”, suggesting that it may be the second plane intended for Poland and the use of a painting scheme that includes an “artificial cabin” on the underside of the fuselage – the task of this painting element is to confuse enemy pilots. So far this type of solution has not been used on combat aircraft of the military aviation in Poland. On the other hand, there is a noticeable lack of contour lights (used, among others, on the later C-295M and M-346 Bielik), which allow flights with the use of night vision goggles without turning on the standard position lights.
The new aircraft will be delivered to the 23rd Tactical Air Base in Mińsk Mazowiecki this year (they represent the production standard of the Republic of Korea Air Force and are to be modified to the FA-50PL configuration later). The first public presentation will be the International Air Show in Radom which will take place on August 26 and 27.