TAIPEI: One of the Taiwan air force’s new, domestically developed advanced jet trainer aircraft crashed on Saturday ( Feb 15 ) after reporting engine failure, though the crew safely bailed out, the military said, in a setback for the programme.
The AT-5 Brave Eagle, made by state-owned Aerospace Industrial Development Corp with a budget of TW$ 68.6 billion ( US$ 2.1 billion ), had its first test flight in 2020.
The Taiwanese air pressure reported the aircraft’s loss of both engines after it took off from Taitung’s west coast’s Chihhang air base before reporting the detour. The team parachuted to health and were rescued, it added.
The air pressure stated in its statement that an exploration group has been established.
The AT-5 began being given over to the atmosphere pressure in 2021, which is the first of its kind.
Taiwan’s air pressure ideas on taking 66 products by 2026 to change its aged father the AT-3 and United States-made F-5 training plane, which have suffered a series of accidents in recent years.
Although Taiwan’s armed forces are primarily provided by the US, the government has made creation of a highly developed domestic defense sector a top priority, especially as China, which claims the island as its own, ramps up military modernization work and drills close to Taiwan.
The AT-5 is Taiwan’s first plane made internally since the F-CK-1 Ching-kuo Indigenous Defence Fighter, or IDF, rolled out more than three decades ago, and the two planes look similar and include similar features.
The AT-5 is used for both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat instruction purposes, and may land and take off using a shorter amount of airport.
Although that is still in the testing stage, the plane is intended to have a support function in a time of war, and it can be equipped with weapons.