Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI), the primary military aircraft manufacturer in South Korea, has revealed a fresh investment strategy to craft a single-seat variant of the FA-50 that will cater to the evolving demands in the light combat aircraft market.

The FA-50, derived from South Korea’s initial double-seater supersonic trainer known as the TA-50, was jointly developed by KAI in partnership with American company Lockheed Martin. 

The envisioned single-seat FA-50 is poised to enhance mission capabilities, facilitating air-to-air and air-to-ground combat operations while broadening customer options and diversifying revenue streams.

Additionally, despite the FA-50’s success, customers have expressed interest in enhancing its range. The proposed single-seat F-50 variant aims to address this by incorporating a larger fuel tank in place of the removed back seat, along with other cost-saving measures like eliminating back-seat avionics and the ejection seat.

To minimize development costs, the single-seat FA-50 will retain its current canopy and outer mold line. Additionally, efforts are underway to improve the FA-50’s range through the development of a larger external fuel tank and the introduction of air-to-air refueling capability.

The first adopter of the single-seater FA-50 is expected to be a foreign buyer, with Malaysia being one of the countries targeted for sales.