A high-level delegation headed by General Jung Sang-hwa, Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF), recently visited the International Test Pilots School (ITPS), in Ontario, Canada.

In a LinkedIn post, Giorgio Clementi, CEO ITPS, announced that the ROKAF delegation, headed by General Sang-hwa visited the ITPS facility, Advanced Aircraft Simulation Centre and was also shown the 5th generation Surrogate Training Aircraft (5STA). 

Clementi posted that discussions were focused on ITPS’s interest in upgrading its fleet with new Advanced Jet Trainers (AJT), for which the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) T-50 is a leading contender. 

General Sang-hwa also met with ROKAF officers currently undertaking test pilot training at ITPS. 

The ITPS has been training ROKAF test pilots in Canada since 2012 with several of those graduates now involved in flight testing prototypes of the KF-21 ‘Boramae’ 4.5 gen fighter aircraft being developed by KAI.

The ROKAF has a longstanding partnership with ITPS, with the very first South Korean experimental test pilot graduating from ITPS in 1989, in England.

Originally established in the UK in 1986, the ITPS was moved to Canada in 2001. It has a fleet of approximately 20 aircraft that includes 11 jet trainers (Aero Vodochody L-39C, L-29), two transonic fighters (Hawker Hunter T.7), a seaplane and a variety of helicopters (MBB Bo 105M, Leonardo AW119Ke, Bell 206B Jet Ranger, etc). 

ITPS students also have access to modern business jets such as Bombardier’s Challenger 601 and Embraer’s Phenom 100, 300 models, in addition to high-performance single- and multi-engine propeller aircraft.