In the heart of the Philippines, the rugged tropical landscape echoed with the thunderous roar of engines. Two FA-50 Golden Eagles, South Korea’s latest fighter, streak across the horizon on their way to their objective: a hostile base full of radical Islamic insurgents.
Equipped with tactical datalink, EL/M-2032 radar, state-of-the-art HUD, and sensors, the Philippine Golden Eagles locate the enemy and attack with precision and lethality.
The Eagles swiftly scan the ground below, and before the insurgents can race for cover, they drop their bomb ordnance. The Mach-capable aircraft, honouring their American F-16 legacy, leave a trail of destruction behind and turn around, prepared for a second run.
When they do, mayhem takes hold of the insurgents, with the Golden Eagles’ powerful 20-millimeter Gatling guns and FFAR rockets turning fortifications into rubble.
In the blink of an eye, the FA-50s destroy the Islamist strongholds and return to their base, preserving the Philippines from a rising threat.
The Golden Eagle ushers a new decade of affordable yet highly effective aircraft for nations with a smaller military budget, costing around 40 million apiece, representing almost one-third of the price of a modern American or European fourth-generation fighter aircraft.
TA-50 Lead in Fighter Trainer at KAI
The KAI T-50 Golden Eagle (Korean: 골든이글) is a family of South Korean supersonic advanced jet trainers and light combat aircraft, developed by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) with Lockheed Martin.[1] The T-50 is South Korea’s first indigenous supersonic aircraft and one of the world’s few supersonic trainers.[4] Development began in the late 1990s, and its maiden flight occurred in 2002. The aircraft entered active service with the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) in 2005.
The T-50 has been further developed into aerobatic and combat variants, namely T-50B, TA-50, and FA-50. An F-50 single-seat multirole fighter variant was considered before being cancelled. The T-50B serves with the South Korean air force’s aerobatics team.
T-50 Golden Eagles lining up
The T-50 has been in service with a number of countries. Iraq ordered 24 training variants called the T-50IQ in 2013, and received them in 2016. The TA-50 light attack variant have also been ordered by Indonesia in 2011, with 16 planes entering service by 2014; an additional 6 planes were ordered in 2021. The Philippines ordered 12 units of the FA-50 light fighter variant in 2014, delivered over the next few years with the country considering to order another batch of 12 planes. Thailand ordered 12 units of the T-50 advanced trainer variant (T-50TH) starting in 2015. In 2022, Poland ordered 48 FA-50 aircraft, followed by Malaysia in 2023 that ordered 18 of the latest Block 20 variant.
Top Photo: KAI FA-50 Fighting Eagle of ROK Air Force
Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube