Trouble looming for Polish FA-50PL procurement?
October 9, 2024
Polish defence sources are reporting ongoing integration issues on the FA-50PL Light Combat Aircraft, and there have been suggestions that this could lead to termination of the contract, even as the first Block 20 aircraft nears completion at KAI’s Sacheon production line.
The Polish government signed a contract for 12 ‘Block 10’ FA-50GF and 36 ‘Block 20’ FA-50PL aircraft on 28 July 2022, with deliveries of the baseline FA-50GF due to begin in 2023. The type was selected in 2022, in the wake of Russia’s illegal and barbaric invasion of Ukraine, when Poland realised that support for its remaining MiG-29s and Su-22s was at risk, and that the US would be unable to supply additional F-16s in a sufficiently quick timeframe. Poland’s Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak specifically said that KAI’s ability to deliver the aircraft quickly was the decisive factor in its selection.
The 12 Block 10 FA-50GF aircraft (with GF standing for ‘Gap Filler’) were delivered on schedule to the 23rd Tactical Air Base at Mińsk Mazowiecki, and were primarily used for pilot training. The FA-50GF is based on the FA-50 version of the RoKAF T-50 Golden Eagle advanced trainer, with improved avionics, additional internal fuel capacity, and a radar warning receiver. They are reportedly equipped with a Korean-modified version of the ELM-2032 radar and a datalink, and have some weapons capabilities, probably including the AIM-9L/M Sidewinder AAMs, and AGM-65 Maverick ASMs, as well as Mk82 and JDAM bombs.
The FA-50PL is more capable, incorporating the Raytheon PhantomStrike lightweight AESA radar, a Link 16 data link, a Sniper ATP targeting pod, and short-range AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles, together with a helmet-mounted display (HMD). The FA-50PL is fitted with additional fuel tanks with a capacity of 300 US gallons (1136 liters), and will have an air-to-air refuelling probe. There have been reports that the South Korean-developed KGGB GPS-guided glide bomb could be integrated on the FA-50PL, providing a useful all-weather stand-off precision attack capability.
Poland reportedly expected that the AIM-120 AMRAAM would be integrated as part of the agreement, while KAI deny that integration was included, saying that the contract only ever called for a feasibility study of a potential AMRAAM integration. Brigadier General Ireneusz Nowak, said in an interview that he expected the AMRAAM to be integrated at the end of the FA-50 aircraft development roadmap as it was dependent on the integration of the AESA radar.
