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
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying