By Matthew Strong, Staff Writer — Taiwan News, Wednesday 22 December 2021
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s second indigenous “Brave Eagle” Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) arrived at an Air Force base in Taitung County on Wednesday 22 December, ready for service. During the morning, three aircraft flew from the Qingchuangang Air Force Base in Taichung City, where The Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) had manufactured them, to Zhihang Air Force Base.
A total of 66 “Brave Eagle” jet trainers should be in service by 2026 at the latest, replacing the United States-built F-5s, which have served Taiwan for at least 35 years and have been plagued by fatal accidents. Wednesday’s event featured the first mass-produced AJT, which was commissioned in November, along with the second one and one of the original aircraft developed for research purposes.
With China stepping up its intimidation of Taiwan by sending its military planes into the country’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on an almost daily basis, Taipei has emphasised local production of a wide variety of weapons systems, from submarines to missiles. The Ministry of National Defence said that since the beginning of 2021, it had counted 940 intrusions by Chinese military aircraft.