KAI signs $3 bn fighter jet export contract with Poland

Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI), the country’s military aircraft manufacturer, has inked a formal deal worth $3 billion to export light fighter jets to Poland.

KAI said on Monday it signed the contract with Skarb Panstwa-Agencja Uzbrojenia, the Polish armaments agency, to deliver 48 units of the FA-50 from Nov. 30, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2028, as well as provide related services including technical support.

The Polish agency said KAI is set to ship 12 units of the light combat jets with similar configurations as those required by the South Korean Air Force in the second half of 2023. The aircraft maker is scheduled to deliver the remaining 36 jets with additional configurations requested by the Polish Air Force from 2025, according to the agency.

The contract was a part of export deals with Poland clinched by South Korea’s defense makers including KAI, Hyundai Rotem Co. and Hanwha Defense Corp. in July.

Hyundai and Hanwha last month signed official contracts worth $5.8 billion to sell battle tanks and self-propelled howitzers to the European country.

Those deals with Poland are expected to help South Korea become the world’s fifth-largest defense exporter. The Asian country’s defense exports topped $7 billion last year after reporting a mere $2 billion to $3 billion annually until 2020.

Poland, which shares a border with Ukraine as well as the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, has been seeking to import South Korean weapons in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member country has sent its MIG-29 warplanes to Ukraine in support of its government.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.