Taiwan finishes production of all 66 Brave Eagle advanced jet trainers
Taiwan has completed the nine-year Brave Eagle trainer program, delivering the final two aircraft to the Air Force Academy.
On Thursday, Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC) marked the end of its nine-year Brave Eagle advanced jet trainer program by delivering the final two aircraft, serial numbers 1165 and 1166, to the Air Force Academy in Kaohsiung. Chairman Tsao Chin-pin personally flew the jets, which took off from the Shalu facility in Taichung, performed a low pass over the plant and landed at 11:36 a.m. The program produced 66 trainers, but the Air Force currently operates 65 after a February 2025 accident over Taitung County in which the pilot ejected safely.
The Brave Eagle, derived from the Indigenous Defense Fighter, is intended to replace the decommissioned F-5E/F and AT-3 fleet and to enable a three-stage, two-aircraft training regimen that feeds pilots into frontline fighters such as the F-16V Block 20 and Block 70. Initiated in 2017, the effort involved the Air Force, the government-funded National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology and more than 200 domestic suppliers, achieving a 55 % domestic content rate despite pandemic-related supply chain disruptions.
Why it matters
The completion boosts Taiwan's self-reliant defense capabilities and modernizes pilot training for its air force.
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