Malaysia issues RFI for KAI's FA-50 light fighter

Malaysia has issued a preliminary request for information (RFI) to Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) in support of a potential acquisition of the company’s FA-50 light attack aircraft, it has been confirmed to Jane’s .

A spokesperson for KAI said on 28 January that the RFI was received earlier this month and that an additional RFI is expected once Malaysia refines its air combat requirements. A spokesperson from the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) could not be reached for comment.

Under the country’s proposed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) procurement programme Malaysia is thought to be seeking to acquire an initial 12 aircraft with an option for another 24 units in future years.

Malaysia has approached Korea Aerospace Industries to seek information about the company’s FA-50 light fighter aircraft. The platform is viewed as a leading candidate for the Royal Malaysian Air Force’s Light Combat Aircraft programme. (KAI)

A KAI spokesperson said, “KAI received the request for information from Malaysia on 5 January, and we expect a more detailed RFI to be issued in the near future.”

Jane’s first revealed that the RMAF was interested in procuring the FA-50 fighter, which is based on KAI’s T-50 advanced jet trainer (AJT) platform, in 2017.

Citing an air force official, Jane’s reported that the procurement would meet a requirement to acquire a single-engined, supersonic platform to augment the RMAF’s fleets of single-seat BAE Systems Hawk and twin-engined Boeing F/A-18D Hornet and Sukhoi Su-30 ‘Flanker’ fighters.