RoKAF chief visits Singapore to promote T-50

By Jung Sung-kiStaff ReporterAir Force Chief of Staff Gen. Lee Kye-hoon arrived Thursday in Singapore, where he will focus on promoting the sale of South Korea's T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer jet.Lee's three-day visit comes as the Southeast Asian nation is scheduled to choose a foreign bidder to provide advanced trainer aircraft to Singapore's air force in the coming months. Singapore has already shortlisted the two aircraft ― the T-50 jointly built by the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Lockheed Martin of the United States, and the M-346 manufactured by Italy's Aermacchi. During the visit, Lee will meet with Maj. Gen. NG Chee Khern, chief of the Singaporean Air Force to promote the T-50's outstanding performances and related training and logistics support programs, the service said in a news release. He will also ask the Singapore air force chief to attend an international aircraft and weapons fair slated for October in Seoul, it said. Before returning home next Wednesday, Lee will visit Germany for talks on bilateral ties, according to the release. In a meeting with Lt. Gen. Klaus Peter Siteglitz, chief of the German air force, Lee will discuss the European country's logistic support and operational skills regarding the Patriot missile interceptor. As part of an effort to build an independent theater missile defense shield, South Korea is receiving 48 second-hand PAC-2 launch modules, radars and missiles from Germany under a $1-billion deal reached in 2007.

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