Taiwan may buy up to 120 new military trainer aircraft, officials said yesterday as military experts evaluated the air force's needs for the next few decades.
"The air force's trainer aircraft will be gradually retired from 2010 to 2017," said Butch Hsu, executive vice president of state-owned aircraft maker, Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC).
"The air force may buy up to 120 new trainers from foreign aircraft makers," he said.
"The new ones will also need to match the aircraft with [advanced] fighters" like the Joint Strike Fighters being developed by the US, Hsu said.
The air force's fleet of jet fighters used to train pilots is currently composed of 200 US-made T-34Cs, F-5E/Fs and locally developed AT-3s.
Among the three proposals being evaluated by the air force is a refitting of the AIDC's Indigenous Defense Fighters, Hsu said.
A third option was to launch an industrial cooperation program between the AIDC and a select foreign aircraft maker to produce the next-generation trainers, he added.
The air force declined to comment on Hsu's remarks.
The AIDC is scheduled to submit a report to the Cabinet next month, Hsu said, as dozens of aviation experts from here and abroad gather in Taipei for the two-day "Next Generation Trainer and Training Approach Symposium."
Experts from Pilatus Co of Switzerland, AerMacchi of Italy as well as Raytheon and Tiger Century Aircraft of the US are in Taipei to attend the event.
The air force was expected to make a final decision some time between late this year and early next year, Hsu said.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS