During 2005, KAI had begun marketing the KT-1 as one element of an integrated training package, having paired it with their newer jet-powered KAI T-50 Golden Eagle trainer. Furthermore, an improved export version of the KT-1, which was called KT-1C, was also to be launched to support these ambitions. On 8 March 2006, a KAI spokesperson announced that the company intended to export more than 150 improved versions of the KT-1 to various countries across both Central America and Southeast Asia. According to a KAI representative, the KO-1 is ideally suited for drug interdiction operations and that the company was pitching the variant towards countries in Latin America. Development was conducted in cooperation with the Agency for Defence Development (ADD) and had been undertaken in response to an existing RKAF requirement for 20-40 aircraft. This variant, designated KO-1, was intended to be used in the forward air control and counter-insurgency (COIN) roles. Further development ĭuring 2002, KAI revealed that they were working on the production of an upgraded and armed version of the KT-1 basic trainer. During the following year, an initial production contract was signed for eighty-five aircraft, with provisions for an additional twenty, between manufacturer Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and the RKAF. In 1998, it was announced that the final test flight had been performed. During 1995, the aircraft was officially named 'Woongbi'. During November 1991, the maiden flight of the KT-1 took place, after which the flight testing programme formally commenced.
#Prototype 1 trainer series
Ī series of nine prototypes were constructed, the first being complete during June 1991.
#Prototype 1 trainer software
Unusually, CATIA computer aided design (CAD) software was used to produce the design, being the first use of such techniques for an aircraft in its class. The programme, which sought to develop an indigenously designed trainer aircraft, was a joint effort between aircraft manufacturer Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) and government body Agency for Defence Development (ADD) the latter was responsible for overseeing the project, while the former performed the detailed design work as well as the majority of manufacturing activity. The origins of the KT-1 can be found within the KTX programme, which had been launched during 1988 on behalf of the Republic of Korea Air Force (RKAF).