Korea Sells 20 KT-1 Trainer Jets to Peru

Twenty Korean-made turboprop KT-1 trainers have been exported to Peru. It is the third overseas shipment of the KT-1 after Indonesia and Turkey and the first time Korea has sold defense equipment to Latin America.

The governments of the two countries signed the contract worth US$200 million in Lima on Wednesday. The aircraft are 10 KT-1 basic trainers and 10 KA-1s, a light attack aircraft version. Four will be manufactured and supplied by Korea Aerospace Industries and the rest assembled in Peru.

Korea has sought to export the KT-1 to Peru since 2007. It competed with Brazil's Emb-314, Switzerland's PC-9, and the U.S.' T-6A.

"The KT-1 was ahead in terms of price competitiveness and operational efficiency," a government official said. "But we had to overcome a lot of skepticism because Brazil has a monopolistic edge in Latin America."

Some 350 of about 860 trainer jets in Latin American countries are made in Brazil.