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Taiwan's New T-5 Brave Eagle Advanced Jet Trainer Conducts Maiden Flight - DefPost
June 10, 2020
Arun Mathew
The new T-5 Brave Eagle advanced jet trainer being developed by Taiwan’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) has conducted its maiden flight.
The flight took place at the Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taichung on June 10. During the flight, the aircraft was accompanied by two Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-Kuo multirole combat aircraft.
The T-5 Brave Eagle program is a joint collaboration between the state-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) and the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC).
The US$2.2 billion program seeks to replace ROCAF’s fleet of AIDC AT-3 Tzu Chung and Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II, which are utilized as advanced trainers and lead-in fighter trainers (LIFT) respectively, with 66 newly built aircraft. The AT-5 light fighter variant of the aircraft is planned to replace the Tiger II fleet.
The design of the T-5 Brave Eagle supersonic advanced jet trainer is based on the twin-seater version of the AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-Kuo Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF).
Compared to the F-CK-1, Brave Eagle has 80% new components including a composite body and more advanced avionics. The aircraft also has an increased fuel capacity, and is little larger larger than the IDF.
The Brave Eagle aircraft is powered by two Honeywell/ITEC F124-200TW non-afterburning turbofan engines. This engine belongs to the same family of engines powering the F-CK-1, the Honeywell/ITEC F125-70 afterburning engine.
Meggitt is supplying the main wheels, carbon brakes and brake control systems for the aircraft while Martin-Baker is providing ejection seat systems.
The production of 66 aircraft for the ROKAF is expected to begin in November 2021 and will last over a six-year period.
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