With Korean aircraft buy, Poland pushes beyond post-Soviet airframe legacy

WARSAW — With the recent signing of two executive agreements for the delivery of FA-50 light attack aircraft from South Korea, the president of Poland said his country was seeing the “beginning of the end of the presence of post-Soviet aircraft in the Polish Air Force.”

“This is an extremely important moment in the history of the Polish Armed Forces,” Andrzej Duda said at the signing last week, which also included new tanks and howitzers for the army. “The implementation of the program of introducing FA-50 aircraft to the PolAF will allow us to completely abandon the MiG-29 and Su-22 aircraft in the PolAF […] and [use] only the [American] F-16, F-35 and FA-50 aircraft.”

The nation’s defense minister, Mariusz Błaszczak, called the new aircraft a “generational leap.”

“When ordering modern weapons for the Polish Army, we follow four criteria. The first criterion is the needs, the second modernity, the third speed of delivery and the fourth criterion is compatibility. All these criteria are met in the framework agreement of cooperation signed with South Korea”, Błaszczak added.

Now it appears to be just a matter of time for the deal to be done, and with the signing has come new details on exactly how that will work.

Acquisition Split In Parts

The subject of the first contract, concluded between the Poland’s MND Armaments Agency and Korean Aerospace Industries, is the delivery of 12 FA-50 light combat aircraft, together with training and logistics packages and technical support service. That contract value is approximately $705 million USD. The 12 FA-50 aircraft, in a configuration similar to those ordered by the Republic of Korea Air Force, will be delivered to Poland in the latter half of 2023, and the deliveries of all components will be completed by the end of 2025.

The subject of the second contract, between the same parties, covers the delivery of 36 FA-50PL light combat aircraft with training and logistic packages and technical support service. The contract value is approximately $2.3 billion USD, and the deliveries of aircraft, which will be configured in accordance with the additional requirements presented by the Polish Air Force, will start in 2025 and will be completed by the end of 2028. The deal also includes the establishment of a service center in Poland, based on cooperation between KAI and the Polish Armaments Group (PGZ), ready to start work in 2026.

The training package includes delivery of Flight Model Simulator and Operational Flight Trainer, and the training of pilots and technical personnel in the Republic of Korea and Poland, while the logistics package includes a stock of spare parts and consumables.

All Polish FA-50 aircraft will be equipped with Link-16 datalink and NATO-standard IFF (Identification, Friend or Foe) and will be able to carry external auxiliary 300 Gallon fuel tank. The 36 PL-type aircraft acquired under the second batch will have increased operational capabilities, resulting from improvements in weapons, operational range, avionics and radar, in accordance with the requirements presented by the Polish Air Force.

According to Armaments Agency spokesman Lt. Col. Krzysztof Płatek, “the FA-50PL is a development version of the aircraft with enhanced functionalities, including the AESA radar indicated by the Polish Air Force, probe and drogue air refueling system, a Sniper targeting pod, and AIM-120 missiles.” Platek said the contract also “provides funds for the preparatory activities of AIM-120 integration and the full integration of the remaining elements for FA-50PL, [but weapons] system and technology transfer will be specified in subsequent contracts.”

With New Planes Come New Interoperability, New Concepts

Late last month Brig. Gen. Ireneusz Nowak, deputy of the Inspector of the Polish Air Force, described in an interview for Poland’s MND outlet Polska Zbrojna how his service planned to use the FA-50s and what weapons it could use on which missions.

The first batch of planes, he said, will be able to carry the AIM-9 L/M Sidewinder missiles, “which are ideally suited for Air Policing missions.” But the FA-50PLs to follow will be able to carry the AIM-9X missiles, integrated with the JHMCS [Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System].”

Nowak said another “interesting type of weapon” for the FA-50s is the KGGB Korean-made GPS-guided bomb, “so the FA-50 already has the full ability to perform precision strikes with stand-off weapons in all weather conditions, day and night. At the end of the aircraft development roadmap is the AIM-120 AMRAAM capability.”

Nowak said the planes will also be “network-centric” and “fully operational” with the F-16 and F-35. “Thus, it will be possible to perform combat flights in Mixed Fighter Force Operations, and Polish FA-50s will [be able to perform] Close Air Support, Strike Coordination and Reconnaissance and Air Interdiction missions. FA-50PL also will support training of F-16 and F-35 pilots, providing Red Air Aggressor Service, reducing training costs while maintaining high standards.”

The new planes will be involved in a “new concept” for the Polish Air Force, Novak said, that includes having the pilot control the aircraft while the sniper pod is operated by the rear seat co-pilot and works with JTAC, or Joint Terminal Attack Controller.

“And FA-50 will help in UAV operators training, because soon Polish Air Force will use not only small drones, but also UCAVs carrying weapons” he added.

Once the deliveries are made, the Polish Air Force will have eight squadrons of combat aircraft:

• Two squadrons of F-35A (based at 32nd Tactical Air Base in Łask and 21st Tactical Air Base in Świdwin, where until 2025 one squadron equipped with Su-22M4/UM3K Fitters will be based)
• Three squadrons of F-16C/D Block 52+ Jastrząb (based at 31st Tactical Air Base, Poznań-Krzesiny and 32nd TAB in Łask)
• Three squadrons of FA-50. The first 12 FA-50 delivered to Poland will create an Operational Conversion Unit squadron located in 23rd TAB in Mińsk Mazowiecki.

To get up to speed on the new aircraft, future FA-50 pilots will switch from the MiG-29AM/UBM and will start training in Korea in November 2022. Some of MiG-29s from Mińsk Mazowiecki, having the lowest number of operational cycles, will be transferred to 22nd TAB in Malbork, where another squadron equipped with MiG-29 is based.

Bases for next batch of FA-50 were not disclosed, but it is believed Malbork will be one of them.