Turkish Pilots to Test Korean Basic Trainers

, A team of Turkish defense acquisition officials, veteran pilots and engineers are here to test the KT-1 trainer [aircraft] before making a decision on whether to purchase the Korean-made plane, the Air Force said Wednesday (Feb. 7). 
 
“The Air Force and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) are supporting the evaluation of the KT-1's capacity by the Turkish team at the 3rd Flying Training Wing in Sacheon, Gyeongsangnam-do (South Gyeongsang Province),” it said, adding the work, which began on Monday, will last through Friday. 
 
KT-1 is a prop-driven basic trainer developed by Korea in the late 1990s. A dozen of them have been exported to Indonesia. 
 
Turkey, which sent the second-largest number of troops after the U.S. to help Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War, is considering buying dozens of KT-1 planes to replace its aging T-37 trainer jets made by the U.S.