A program to build supersonic trainer aircraft is to be officially launched today, with the first prototype expected in two years, and flight tests a year later.
Air Force Commander General Shen Yi-ming (沈一鳴) and Chung-shan Institute of Science and Technology president Chang Guan-chung (張冠群) are to sign a memorandum to award the institute an NT$68.6 billion (US$2.22 billion) contract to build 66 planes.
A cornerstone of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) policy to develop a local defense industry, the program is to produce 66 XT-5 “Blue Magpie” trainers designed by Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) to replace the air force’s aging AT3 trainers and F5 fighters, which remain in service to support training exercises.
AIDC, the main subcontractor, has gathered more than 300 aviation professionals to design and produce the new trainer, which is reportedly based on the design of Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) jets assembled by AIDC.
The IDF was produced with the technical assistance of several US companies, including General Dynamics Corp, which helped with the frame; Hughes Corp, which designed the engine; and Westinghouse Co, which produced the avionics system.
AIDC is to design models to undergo wind tunnel testing in the US and other tests in Taiwan, with the first Blue Magpie prototype to be built by 2019 and the first trial flight set for 2020.
The first Blue Magpie is also scheduled to be commissioned that year, with the fleet of 66 XT-5s projected to be completed in 2028.
The air force first submitted a budget in 2008 to procure new trainer jets to replace the AT3s, which have a recommended service life of 20 years and were nearing the end of that time frame.
The Alenia Aermacchi M-346 trainers made by Italy’s Leonardo-Finmeccanica and T50 trainers developed by a South Korean company as well as the US’ Lockheed Martin were the primary objectives.
Following test trials of the M-346, the air force submitted a NT$69.1 billion budget to purchase 66 of the planes and a memorandum was signed between AIDC and Leonardo-Finmeccanica to manufacture four to six M-346s in Italy, with the rest to be built in Taiwan.
However, the procurement project was shelved following the election of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who had pledged to make the defense industry one of Taiwan’s key economic drivers.
Leonardo-Finmeccanica did offer a substantially reduced price — cutting its bill from NT$69.1 billion to NT$50.4 billion — but the government decided to maintain its pledge to build a locally developed plane.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
AIR ALERT: China’s reservation of airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea could be an attempt to test the US’ response ahead of a Trump-Xi meeting, the NSB head said China’s attempts to infiltrate Taiwan are systematic, planned and targeted, with activity shifting from recruiting mid-level military officers to rank-and-file enlisted personnel, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) integrates national security, intelligence operations and “united front” efforts into a dense network to conduct intelligence gathering and espionage in Taiwan, Tsai said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee. It uses specific networks to screen targets through exchange activities and recruiting local collaborators to establish intelligence-gathering organizations, he said. China is also shifting who it targets to lower-ranking military personnel,
RSS