The air force on Tuesday said that it has not made a final decision on whether to replace its aging fleet of T-34Cs with locally designed and built jet trainers.
The comments came one day after Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) said that it is ready to build a domestic jet trainer prototype by 2028 if the air force gives its approval.
“We are still considering whether to choose locally made trainers, trainers that are the result of local and international cooperation, or simply rent new trainers instead of buying them,” Major General Tsao Ting-ming (曹定明), deputy head of the Ministry of National Defense’s Department of Strategic Planning, told a news conference.
Photo: CNA
PLANS
On Monday, Taichung-based AIDC announced that it had completed the first stage of a design for a military trainer aircraft meant to replace the Beechcraft T-34C trainers, which are near the end of their service life.
With the completion of the first stage of the design process, the second stage can start once the air force initiates the process of developing and building a new trainer, AIDC said in a press release.
A prototype could be built by 2028 and mass production could begin in 2031, it said.
The plan to develop and build 45 domestically made trainers would cost about NT$21.4 billion (US$687.22 million), while obtaining the same number of planes from outside Taiwan would cost NT$18.6 billion, it said.
Some savings might be derived made with maintenance fees spent locally on home-built planes over their 25 year lifespan, estimated at NT$52 billion compared with NT$52.9 billion that would be needed for aircraft from abroad, AIDC said.
However, investing in homemade jets would boost the domestic economy and create about NT$39 billion in spillover effects, it said.
Tsao said that the ministry supports the local defense industry.
However, the military has to make overall and comprehensive considerations before putting money into a project due to limited defense budgets and the needs of all of the military branches, he said.
“For the time being, we believe that the most important job for the air force is to make sure AIDC will deliver the Brave Eagle trainers on time and on target,” he said.
TIMING
Meanwhile, Major General Ho Chen-hsiang (何振翔), chief of the Air Force Command’s Planning Division, said that the T-34Cs are not expected to reach the end of their service period until 2033 or 2035.
“The time to decide on replacements has not come,” Ho said.
AIDC is responsible for designing and building the Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) that entered service in the 1990s after the US government initially refused to sell F-16s to Taiwan.
Since beginning service in 1992, the IDF has become one of the main backbones of the air force’s fleet, which includes US-made F-16s and French-made Mirage 2000-5s.
Following the development of the IDF, AIDC has been building its own advanced trainer jet, known as the Brave Eagle, since 2017 as part of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) plan to build indigenous warplanes, warships and submarines.
A prototype Brave Eagle, serial No. 11001/08-9001, flew for the first time in June 2020.
AIDC has so far delivered more than 20 Brave Eagles to the air force and is scheduled to deliver all 66 by 2026.
The Brave Eagles are to replace the aging F-5 jets and AT-3 trainers that have been in use by the air force since the 1960s and 1980s respectively.
The air force purchased 49 T-34Cs in 1985, with 40 of them still in service.
Given that the T-34Cs have been in service for about 40 years and are not equipped with ejector seats, several lawmakers have called for them to be replaced.
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