Taiwan wants US collaboration to build next-generation fighters. On Wednesday, the president of Taiwanese defense contractor Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) (2634. T.W.) stated that Taiwan wants U.S. help to build its next fighter plane.
As Beijing pressures Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty, Taiwan’s air force battles Chinese jets in the island’s airspace daily.
Taiwan’s air force relies on Lockheed Martin Corp.’s (LMT.N) F-16s, French-built Mirages, and AIDC’s F-CK-1 Ching-kuo Indigenous Defence Fighter, or IDF.
Taiwan IDF fleet was updated after more than three decades.
At a Taiwan-U.S. defense industry forum in Taipei, AIDC Chairman Hu Kai-hung said the company wanted to improve its technical capabilities to help develop Taiwan’s next-generation fighter.
“When it comes to the development of the next generation fighter, we hope the United States supports Taiwan to develop it itself, including the engine, avionics, control systems, environmental controls and so on, which are all an opportunity for Taiwan-U.S. cooperation,” he added.
Taiwan unveiled a stealth aircraft program in 2017 but has provided little specifics.
For fear of offending China, few nations sell arms to Taiwan.
Taiwan has no direct response to China’s new J-20 stealth aircraft, and the U.S. won’t provide Taiwan with its most modern warplanes like the F-22 or F-35.
This has prompted Taiwan to build a new fighter to create additional weapons, such as submarines.
“Domestically-made aircraft is the road we have to travel,” he remarked.
In 2020, AIDC tested Taiwan’s first domestically built jet trainer, the AT-5 Brave Eagle, and upgraded its F-16 fleet to the F-16V.
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