POLAND PARTIALLY PAYS UPFRONT FOR FA-50S

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Back in September, Poland signed a deal with the Korea Aerospace Institute for exporting 48 FA-50 fighter jets, amounting to three billion dollars. In an unprecedented move,it has been found that Poland paid 30 percent of the total amount in advance, requesting the KAI to deliver the purchased weapon by the promised due date. They also discussed additional armament deals for the FA-50s at a conference on defense cooperation held yesterday in Poland.

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Back in September, the Korea Aerospace Institute signed a deal with Poland for exporting 48 FA-50 fighter jets. The deal is worth three billion dollars. Poland reportedly paid 900 million dollars, or 30 percent of the total amount, just two months after signing the contract. Usually only 10 percent of the total sum is paid in advance when it comes to weapons transactions over as long as one year. But Poland's advance payment far exceeds that amount, and it was provided just two months after signing the deal. A military source says Poland has requested the KAI deliver the purchased weapons between next year and 2028 as promised. As the third largest supplier of weapons to Ukraine after the U.S. and the U.K., Poland is apparently concerned its weapons could run out soon. On Tuesday, Warsaw invited representatives of 18 Korean defense companies, including the KAI, to a conference on defense cooperation and discussed additional armament for the FA-50s. Poland is looking to equip them with Korean guided bombs and U.S. advanced medium range air-to-air missiles

[Soundbite] Yoo Hyung-keun(Defense Acquisition Program Administration(Nov. 28)) : "The two sides discussed strengthening defense cooperation between Korea and Poland and introduced weapons that have already been exported to Poland and weapons that could be exported in the future."

The two sides also reportedly discussed in detail the establishment of an international aviation academy for training FA-50 pilots and additional exports of maintenance equipment.