Taiwan may buy up to 120 new military trainer aircraft, officials said yesterday as military experts evaluated the air force's needs for the next few decades.
"The air force's trainer aircraft will be gradually retired from 2010 to 2017," said Butch Hsu, executive vice president of state-owned aircraft maker, Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC).
"The air force may buy up to 120 new trainers from foreign aircraft makers," he said.
"The new ones will also need to match the aircraft with [advanced] fighters" like the Joint Strike Fighters being developed by the US, Hsu said.
The air force's fleet of jet fighters used to train pilots is currently composed of 200 US-made T-34Cs, F-5E/Fs and locally developed AT-3s.
Among the three proposals being evaluated by the air force is a refitting of the AIDC's Indigenous Defense Fighters, Hsu said.
A third option was to launch an industrial cooperation program between the AIDC and a select foreign aircraft maker to produce the next-generation trainers, he added.
The air force declined to comment on Hsu's remarks.
The AIDC is scheduled to submit a report to the Cabinet next month, Hsu said, as dozens of aviation experts from here and abroad gather in Taipei for the two-day "Next Generation Trainer and Training Approach Symposium."
Experts from Pilatus Co of Switzerland, AerMacchi of Italy as well as Raytheon and Tiger Century Aircraft of the US are in Taipei to attend the event.
The air force was expected to make a final decision some time between late this year and early next year, Hsu said.
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