Egypt's AOI confirms agreement to produce South Korean jet trainers

by Jeremy Binnie

The South Korean Black Eagles aerobatic team perform during the Pyramids Air Show on 3 August 2022. (Mahmoud Khaled/AFP via Getty Images)

Egypt's state-owned Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI) has confirmed it has signed an agreement with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) to locally manufacture advanced training aircraft.

In a statement released on 16 January, the AOI said its chairman, Mokhtar Abdel-Latif, had met a South Korean delegation that included members of parliament and senior officials from KAI and Hanwha Aerospace. They discussed the implementation of the AOI's agreement with KAI to “localise the manufacturing technology for an advanced training aircraft to meet the needs of the armed forces and export it to African and Arab countries”, it said.

The aircraft will be built at the AOI Aircraft Factory in Helwan, which previously licence-produced Chinese K-8E trainers for the Egyptian Air Force. It was reported that Egypt was producing more than 94% of the aircraft when the 120th and final K-8E was delivered in May 2010.


Get the full article by
Already a Janes subscriber? Keep reading


General Electric T901 delivery to US Army delayed until boreal fall 2023

by Zach Rosenberg

The T901-GE-900 prototype engine installed at General Electric's test facility. (General Electric)

Delivery of the General Electric T901 engine to the US Army is now scheduled for boreal fall of 2023, General Electric said in a statement, delayed from spring 2023.

The delivery has been delayed several times; the spring 2023 date was a delay from a then-projected November 2022 delivery.

The army intends to test the engines and simultaneously deliver one engine each to Bell Helicopters and Sikorsky in early fiscal year (FY) 2024. Both companies will use the engines for their Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) demonstrators, the Bell 360 Invictus and Sikorsky Raider-X, neither of which can take flight without the engine.

Both demonstrators are nearly complete, aside from the engine. The contractors have used inoperative, 3D-printed plastic engines to test how the engine fits with their aircraft in anticipation of T901 deliveries.

“We are laser-focused on execution and working closely with the army to deliver flight-test engines this fall to support the FARA competitive prototypes,” General Electric said in a statement.


Get the full article by
Already a Janes subscriber? Keep reading


Airbus ‘convinced proper structures in place' to improve NH90 user experience, concedes results not yet showing

by Gareth Jennings

NHI has sold 597 NH90s to 14 different customers, including most lately Qatar (pictured). While the programme has been a success in terms of sales, some customers have complained of poor availability in particular. (NHIndustries)

Airbus is convinced it has the proper structures in place to enhance the user experience of the NHIndustries (NHI) NH90 helicopter, although the results have not yet manifested themselves, a senior official said on 17 March.

Speaking at the handover of the 500th NH90 to the international programme, Airbus Helicopters CEO Bruno Even told Janes and other defence media that measures that have been drafted should see the desired improvement in availability levels in particular, but that these are not yet coming through.


Get the full article by
Already a Janes subscriber? Keep reading


Turkish Aerospace marks programme milestones on national ‘Victory Day'

by Gareth Jennings

The TF-X/MMU made its first engine runs on 17 March. (Turkish Aerospace)

Turkish Aerospace (TA) marked and announced upcoming major milestones for its four primary combat aviation programmes during Turkey's Gallipoli ‘Victory Day' on 18 March.

TA president and CEO Temel Kotil announced developments pertaining to the Turkish Fighter Experimental (TF-X)/National Combat Aircraft (MMU), and the Hürjet advanced jet trainer aircraft, as well as noting upcoming milestones for the ATAK 2 attack helicopter, and the ANKA 3 low-observable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

“We have kept our promise to our nation in the Century of Turkey. MMU and Hürjet taxied, ATAK 2 will start the engine soon, and ANKA 3 will make its first flight,” Kotil announced from his official Twitter account.

Images released by the Defence Industry Agency (SSB) showed the TF-X/MMU advanced ‘fifth-generation' combat aircraft undergoing initial engine runs at TA's Ankara facility on 17 March, and the Hürjet doing the same the following day.

As Kotil recently briefed Janes


Get the full article by
Already a Janes subscriber? Keep reading


https://www.janes.com/defence-news/air-platforms/latest/egypts-aoi-confirms-agreement-to-produce-south-korean-jet-trainers

Egypt's state-owned Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI) has confirmed it has signed an agr...

Latest Podcasts

Next Level OSINT Considerations - Part 2

We invited some of our most popular guests back to take us to the next level of what everyone needs to consider for their OSINT and why technology, ethics, culture and empathy are increasingly important.

Listen now

Next Level OSINT Considerations - Part 1

OSINT – What we learnt in 2022

OSINT and Journalism

Empathy in Decision-Making, Analysis and OSINT

Janes Case Studies

Using Janes Intara to build a common intelligence picture: Russian build up on the Ukrainian border

View Case Study

Assessing threats in the South China Sea 

A competitive assessment of the military aircraft market

Identifying an unknown aircraft

Case study: Using Interconnected Intelligence to Monitor Russian Troop Movement

News Categories

Request Consultation

Request a free consultation to discover how Janes can provide you with assured, interconnected open-source intelligence.

Air Details