New trainer jets also viable in wartime: scholar
ROC Central News Agency
2019/09/24 17:31:42
Taipei, Sept. 24 (CNA) New locally developed trainer jets primarily intended to replace Taiwan's aging AT-3 and F-5 trainer aircraft will also be capable of contributing to the country's defense in wartime, a local scholar said Tuesday.
The military on Tuesday unveiled a prototype of the new advanced jet trainer (AJT), named "Yung Yin (勇鷹)" or Brave Eagle, in a ceremony presided over by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in Taichung.
Flight testing of the new plane is expected to start in June 2020, and a total of 66 AJTs are scheduled to be delivered by 2026 to replace the military's AT-3 and F-5 jets, which are over 30 years old, according to Taiwan's military.
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the military-affiliated Institute for National Defense and Security Research, confirmed to CNA on Tuesday that the new batch of trainers will mainly strengthen the training of Taiwan's fighter jet pilots.
Flight training for Taiwan's Air Force pilots currently starts with the relatively slower propeller-driven, single-engine, T-34 Mentor before moving on to the faster AT-3 trainer and F-5 fighter jets, and teaches them how to fire guns, drop bombs and launch missiles.
The new AJT will replace both the AT-3 trainer and F-5 fighter jets, he said.
Beyond their training function, however, the Brave Eagles will also be able to provide air support in combat because they can be loaded with missiles and bombs, Su said. Only F-5s and more advanced AT-3 models can be used during wartime at present.
A military source said independently that the military has hoped the plane could be used for both training and wartime missions since the early design stage and has designed that vision into the new aircraft, but stressed the aircraft will only have a support role rather than serve as a main fighter jet.
Su said the ATJ could also have an overseas market to satisfy growing global demand for trainer jets. He estimated that 400 trainer jets would be needed worldwide by 2030, creating a market worth US$7 billion.
Ma Wan-june (馬萬鈞), president of government-funded Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) that is responsible for designing and producing the new ATJ, would not confirm that the Brave Eagle could be used in actual combat, citing confidentiality issues.
He expressed confidence, however, that the Brave Eagle will be highly competitive in the global market but indicated that his company's main focus at present is making sure the test flights and mass production of the new model go as planned.
A source familiar with the new trainer jet's design told CNA that the Brave Eagle can definitely be used during wartime but was not sure how efficiently the jet would perform in air combat because that will depend on how many missiles and bombs it can carry at once.
Commenting on the new jet's production, meanwhile, Ma said more than 55 percent of all its components are made in Taiwan.
Though the jets may look similar to the Ching-kuo Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) that was built by AIDC and has served Taiwan's Air Force since 1992, 80 percent of their components are newly designed, including its cockpit, electronic system and TFE1042 turbo-fan engine, according to Ma.
(By Matt Yu and Joseph Yeh)
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