South Korea to send proposal to sell trainer jets to Israel

South Korea will send a proposal to Israel this month to sell its advanced trainer jets, a government source said Saturday.

“We will send a proposal to Israel within this month as the country is seeking to introduce high-end trainer jets,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

The official said the government will help Israel assess the performance of the T-50 Golden Eagle trainer jets early next year.

Israel is reportedly seeking to replace up to 35 aging A-4 Skyhawk trainer jets between 2014 and 2016. South Korea’s T-50 Golden Eagle is competing with Italy’s M-346 Master.

In May, South Korea signed a contract valued at around $400 million to export its T-50 trainer jets to Indonesia, a deal that marks the first time the country has exported supersonic jets.

South Korea has been seeking to export the aircraft to other nations, such as Israel, Poland, India and the United Arab Emirates.

South Korea first unveiled the T-50 in 2005 after the state-run aircraft maker Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) developed the supersonic jet jointly with U.S. defense giant Lockheed Martin, making the country the world’s 12th supersonic jet producer. (Yonhap News)