The military's Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology has hal-ted development of stealth technology for fighter planes, defense sources said yesterday.
The project, which is code-named "Lu-shan," is almost a complete failure, greatly disappointing military leaders.
Deputy Minister for Armament Affairs General Chen Chao-ming (陳肇敏), who oversaw the project, was angry at the result and was unlikely to give the institute a second chance, sources said.
The Lushan project, which has cost the military over NT$300 million in the past two years, was unable to move ahead because certain radar-absorbing materials that the institute has developed failed to pass tests. The materials are the key to the project.
A locally-built Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) painted with these materials flew more than 50 flights to test how effective the materials were in reducing the plane's visibility to radar.
The IDF would have been the first fighter to be given with the stealth paint had the project suc-ceeded.
The test results were not satisfactory, with part of the stealth paint even peeling off the plane.
The Lushan project was launched as a response to China's development of stealth planes such as the new FC-1.
Despite the failure of the Lushan project, the state-run Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC), which developed the IDF, may have a solution, sources said.
It has introduced some radar-absorbing materials from abroad that are the best of their kind in the world.
The AIDC has painted the materials on a locally-built AT-3 jet trainer, also one of its products, to test their stealth effects.
The tests are proceeding well, sources said.
One source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the first stage of the experiment is to use the AT-3 in initial tests and the IDF in second-stage testing.
According to the source, initial results show that the foreign-made radar-absorbing materials are indeed quite effective in reducing the radar cross-section of the plane.
"But the experiment on the AT-3 is only for reference since the AT-3 is not likely to become the air force's stealth fighter," the source said.
It is unclear whether the AIDC might take over from the Chung Shan Institute in the development of stealth technology for fighter planes.
But the institute might also be bluffing in an attempt to secure material from countries that initially did not want to sell it to Taiwan, sources said.
The US agreed, for instance, to sell the advanced medium-range air-to-air AIM-120 missile to Taiwan only after the institute developed a similar missile -- the Tien Chien-II -- but did not publicize the success.
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