KAI T-50 trainer

Thailand is likely to sign $258 million deal to purchase eight T-50 trainer jets from South Korea on 29 of this month.

The Bt-8.8-billion ($258 million) procurement will be part of the Air Force’s budgets for three fiscal years. These eight jets should be delivered within 34 months after the deal is penned, Defence Ministry Spokesperson Major General Kongcheep Tantrawanich was quoted as saying by Korea Herald Wednesday.

The new procurement constitutes the second batch of T-50THs. The Air Force signed a Bt3.7-billion contract with KAI to buy four T-50THs in September 2015, with delivery due in 2018.

The purchase would be done in a government-to-government deal, according to Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan. “The deal will be done transparently,” he told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.

The new trainers will replace the aging fleet of L-39ZA/ART jets bought from Czechoslovakia.