Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI)

KT-1 Woongbi

South Korea's indigenous single-engine turboprop basic trainer, developed by KAI and in production since the late 1990s. The KT-1 is powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turboprop of roughly 950 shaft horsepower and serves as the primary trainer of the Republic of Korea Air Force, with exports to Indonesia, Turkey (as the KT-1T), Peru and Senegal. The armed KT-1C export variant adds a forward-looking infrared pod and hardpoints for a 12.7mm gun pod, rockets, training missiles and unguided bombs for light-attack and lead-in fighter training roles.

In service since 2000 · 5 operator countries

Compiled from public sources ·primary reference ↗ ·last verified 2026-07-16

Pricing: In production; ROK Air Force plus exports to Indonesia, Turkey, Peru and Senegal

Procurement snapshot

Availability & export

ROK export-licensed

DAPA-administered; aggressive export posture with financing/offset packages.

Channel: Government-to-government

Fielded & proven

Established · 5 operators

In service since 2000. Status: active.

Lifecycle cost (est.)

No public unit price to model from. Why so few systems publish one →

Interoperability

No standardised NATO calibre / datalink detected in public specs.

Derived guidance from public data, export regime by country of origin, lifecycle from the GAO ~30% acquisition rule. Verify eligibility, pricing and offsets with the manufacturer and your acquisition authority.

Full specifications

Specifications compiled from public Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and reference sources ↗. Published defense figures are approximations, treat comparisons as directional. Last verified 2026-07-16.