The nation’s first indigenously manufactured advanced jet trainer, the Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) T-5 (AT-5) Yung Ying (勇鷹, “Brave Eagle”), yesterday conducted its first preflight taxi test ahead of its planned flight test later this month.
Manufactured by AIDC, the AT-5 is scheduled to undergo flight testing at about the time of the Dragon Boat Festival, said a Ministry of National Defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The taxi test was conducted at the Ching Chuan Kang Air Force Base (清泉崗) in Taichung by AIDC, the ministry and the air force.
Photo courtesy of Military News Agency
The ministry did not announce the test to avoid attracting a crowd, but despite its best efforts, aviation enthusiasts still appeared in droves, the official said.
“We need to make some adjustments according to the results of the taxi tests, but plans for a first test flight in late June have not changed,” the official said, adding that test schedules have not been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We plan to hold two to three more taxi tests, including high-speed taxi tests, before the test flight,” the official said, adding that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would be invited to oversee the test flight.
Two AIDC Indigenous Defense Fighters would be accompanying and assessing the test flight, as well as recording the event, the official said.
The initial test flight would be simple, with the AT-5 taking off and circling above the airport at a limited height before landing, the official said, adding that the airplane’s landing gear would remain extended during the flight.
The airplane’s design was completed in March 2018, with the A1 prototype — intended for testing — completed on Sept. 4 last year, the official said.
AIDC plans to deliver 66 AT-5s to the air force by 2026 to replace the AT-3s, which the air force plans to retire.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
RSS