AIDC to deliver last batch of Brave Eagles this week
By Lo Tien-pin and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC, 漢翔航空工業) has finished production of the nation’s T-5 Brave Eagle (勇鷹) advanced jet trainers, with the final aircraft scheduled to be formally delivered at a ceremony on Thursday.
The delivery of the trainer jets marks the end of the program, which dates back to 2017, with the first prototypes completed in 2019. Fifty-six of the 66 trainers had been delivered as of May.
The Brave Eagle was developed and produced by AIDC and the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology.
A Brave Eagle jet trainer is pictured in an undated photograph.
Photo: Taipei Times
The program has provided a foundation for the development of a domestically produced next-generation primary trainer and main combat aircraft, and contributed to the development of Taiwan’s domestic aerospace supply chain, AIDC said.
The Brave Eagle has taken over as the air force’s advanced trainer, a military source said yesterday.
The AT-3 advanced jet trainer, which had been in service for more than 40 years, was retired at the end of July, while the F-5E/F jets previously used for operational training have also been phased out.
The air force’s three-stage pilot training program has been reduced from three aircraft types to two. The first student pilots to transition directly from the T-34C primary trainer to the Brave Eagle, bypassing the intermediate stage, have also completed their solo-flight tests and entered service.
In addition to routine training, the air force’s Thunder Tigers Aerobatics Team has transitioned to the Brave Eagle. Several aircraft were modified by AIDC with colored smoke-generation systems.
The aircraft are expected to be used for formation aerobatics at major national celebrations and air force open-house events.
The Brave Eagles are deployed mainly with the Flight Training Command at Gangshan Air Base (岡山基地) in Kaohsiung and at Chihhang Air Base (志航基地) in Taitung County.
The jets’ logistics support and serviceability have remained stable, military sources said.
The Brave Eagle shares design elements and a development lineage with the Indigenous Defense Fighter (經國號) and has space for weapons in its basic design. The air force plans to use air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons for the Brave Eagle, which could allow it to be used as a light attack aircraft during wartime.
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