Iraq receives new batch of T-50 fighter jets from South Korea: Ministry
Korean T-50 jet fighters
A statement by the Security Media Center said “a new batch of T-50, formed of six fighter jets, has arrived.”
A previously-signed contract between each of South Korea and Iraq stated providing the latter with 24 T-50 IQ fighter jets. Two batches has already arrived.
Signed in 2013, the contract stipulated that delivering the jets would start in April 2016, however, the delivery was delayed without clarification from the ministry.
The cost of a T-50 jet would reach around US$21 million.
In April, the Foreign Ministry said Iraqi ambassador to South Korea, Haider Shayya al-Barak, visited the headquarter of the manufacturing company, KAI, to follow up on the execution of the contract for T-50 IQ fighter jets.
T-50s entered service in the South Korean forces in 2005. It will join Iraq’s fleet, which includes 18 U.S. F-16, 25 Russian Sukhoi and Czech fighters.