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.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
RSS