South Korea has been developing a turbo prop trainer/light attack aircraft since 1980. It's an aircraft type with considerable promise. Lighter, cheaper, and with more endurance than jets or attack choppers like F16 or Apache, it still carries enough firepower to be very useful against Al Quada type enemies. It can carry a pair or 500 pound bombs, 76 rockets in pods, or four .50 cal machine guns, any of which can do serious damage. With air support like that on call, platoons can go deep into Indian country and fear no evil.
The Koreans have had some development problems over the years. The Americans got stuffy about furnishing American parts for aircraft sold to Indonesia. A prototype was lost after both ejection seats accidentally ejected the crew in flight. A deal with Columbia fell thru after the Columbians asked from a night attack version loaded up with enough avionics to create a propeller drive F-22. Despite these obstacles, Korean Aerospace Industries has managed to deliver 105 aircraft to the South Korean Air Force, so the aircraft is a reality, rather than aerospace vaporware.
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