Sat, Sep 10, 2016
Staff writer, with CNA
The nation’s air force is to purchase 66 advanced training planes as part of a plan to phase out all of its F-5s and AT-3s, Air Force Command Headquarters said in a statement on Tuesday.
The procurement has been approved by the Executive Yuan and the purchase is expected to meet the needs of basic flight training missions and improve training efficiency, the statement said.
The statement was issued after Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), convener of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, wrote on Facebook that he feared domestic manufacturers would not be able to keep up with demand under the government’s policy of building military aircraft domestically.
Chiang wrote that the air force plans to decommission all of its F-5s in 2020 and its AT-3s in 2021.
However, some media reports have said that if the government insists on self-sufficiency in aircraft production, the nation would be able to produce a prototype aircraft by 2020, he wrote.
If no new aircraft have been produced by then, the air force would have to halt to its flight-training missions, he wrote.
The central government’s budget for next year has allocated NT$321.7 billion (US$10.2 billion) to the Ministry of National Defense, including NT$6.7 billion produce aircraft and ships domestically.
Taiwan Advanced Jet Trainer Nears Bidding Process
TAIPEI, Taiwan, and ROME — Leonardo-Finmeccanica has launched a massive public relations effort in Taiwan to save an agreement with a local aviation company to honor a 2014 deal to co-build the M-346 Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) for filling Taiwan’s air force requirement for 66 aircraft to replace aging AT-3 Tzu Chung attack/trainers.
The local aviation company, Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC), signed a teaming agreement for the transfer of technology, co-production and technical assistance for the M-346, but the election of a new president, Tsai Ing-wen, has thrown a wrench into the deal.
Tsai has pledged to develop indigenous weapon systems and wean Taiwan off its dependence on foreign-made arms.
Tsai has put AIDC and the Air Force in a difficult position. The new government wants to build a completely indigenous trainer, dubbed the XAT-5 AJT, according to a senior AIDC official. The Leonardo agreement is still in effect, he said, but the new president wants to change it.
“Leonardo is trying to save the agreement with a big public relations effort, but we are waiting for a final decision on whether the president will accept open bidding that will include foreign companies or go with a totally indigenous product," he said.
The decision is expected in September.
A Leonardo spokesperson said AIDC and the M-346 are strongly linked.
“AIDC is the local partner for the Honeywell M-346's engines, assembled in Taiwan by the ITEC [International Turbine Engine Company] consortium, participated by AIDC,” the spokesperson said. “Considering that, we can say that the Taiwanese M-346 version will have at least 50 percent of its content made in Taiwan.
Within that, one of the scopes of the collaboration between Leonardo and AIDC is to guarantee to the transfer of competences to AIDC to perform possible customizations and/or upgrades to the aircraft configuration.”
Despite the urging of Tsai to indigenously build the aircraft with minimum foreign assistance, Taiwan might have no choice but to go with the M-346 option, said a Taiwan defense analyst. The indigenous option, by comparison, is of a higher risk and requires significantly more research and development, estimated by AIDC to cost of $2.3 billion for the entire program from birth to death.
“If I were Taiwan, I would probably make it a requirement that the avionics suite be sourced locally, via AIDC or Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, since that is the only area where there could be any real added value in the whole project,” said the Taiwan defense analyst. Local licensed production of the aircraft would also be an important factor to allow Tsai to save face, he said.
“Having said all that, it is important to remember that defense industry policy issues are poorly informed and under debated in Taiwan,” he said. “So the XAT-5 program would likely devolve into indigenous versus foreign controversies, without real thought being given to just exactly how much Taiwan’s aerospace industry could hope to gain by adopting a totally indigenous trainer of which the Air Force will be the sole user with a very limited installed base of 66 aircraft that would be extremely difficult to sustain.”
Taiwan’s AT-3 aircraft were built in the 1980s and built by AIDC with foreign assistance. The replacement will be fielded to two bases: one in Taitung to replace the aging F-5E/F Tigers and the other in Kangshan to replace the AT-3s.
Taiwan Exhibits New Fighter Trainers at Expo
TAIPEI — Two new jet fighter trainers have been unveiled at the 2015 Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition (TADTE), being held Aug. 13-16 in Taiwan.
Taiwan’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC) is proposing that the Air Force consider two fighter trainer options for replacing its aging AT-3 Tzu Chung advanced jet trainers, built by AIDC in the 1980s, and the F-5E/F Tiger trainers, which were also built by AIDC in cooperation with Northrop during the 1970s.
The first model shown at TADTE was the subsonic AT-3 MAX Advanced Trainer. The aircraft is based on the original AT-3 design, but will have updated avionics and a glass cockpit.
The second model, based on AIDC’s Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF), has been dubbed the XAT-5 Advanced Trainer. It will be outfitted with reinforced landing gear, increased fuel capacity, a glass cockpit and the same F124 engine.
Both aircraft will be new builds, rather than upgrades to older aircraft, an AIDC official said. The Air Force is expected to announce a tender in the 2016-17 time frame. The exact requirements are still being worked out, but it will either be a lead-in trainer, an advanced trainer or a combination of both, he said.
AIDC also had a model of the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master transonic trainer on display alongside the AT-3 Max and XAT-5. The AIDC source said the Air Force might select the M-346 instead of a local buy, and AIDC wants to have a 50 percent local assembly option. Korea Aerospace Industries’ T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainer also is an option, the source said.
The XAT-5 Advanced Trainer is based on the AIDC’s Indigenous Defense Fighter.Photo Credit: Wendell Minnick/Staff
During TADTE, US-based Lockheed Martin announced the sale of the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP) for its fleet of F-16A/B Block 20 fighter aircraft. According to an Aug. 13 news release, Taiwan becomes the 20th international customer to select the Sniper ATP for its precision attack requirements. In the initial contract, Lockheed Martin will provide two Sniper ATPs and integration support to Taiwan. The company will also provide integration support of Lockheed’s LANTIRN navigation and targeting pods on Taiwan’s F-16s.
“With Sniper ATP, pilots will have access to unmatched imagery for precision targeting and non-traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance efforts, enabling greater overall mission success,” Marc Nazon, Sniper ATP international program manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said in the news release.
Taiwan’s fleet of 146 F-16s is undergoing a midlife upgrade that will include new avionics, structural reinforcements and active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. Lockheed was selected as the system integrator for the upgrade, and Northrop Grumman’s scalable agile beam radar will provide for the AESA requirement.
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