The Ministry of National Defense is increasingly turning to General Electric (GE) F414 engines for the planned Advanced Defense Fighter (ADF) program as concerns mount over the nation’s ability to overcome technological bottlenecks, a defense official said on Saturday.
Taiwan’s ADF program intends to produce a fifth-generation tactical fighter using a low observability airframe, internal weapons bay, active electronically scanned array radar system, datalinks and an optional vectored thrust, among other advanced features.
The fighter jet would be a twin-engine design with a combined thrust of 22,000 pounds, an increase from the 18,500 pounds provided by the pair of Honeywell/ITEC F125 turbofans in the AIDC F-CK-1, the source said on condition of anonymity.
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The ministry pursued a double-pronged acquisition strategy for the engines by simultaneously funding the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology classified Vega Project (織女星計畫) to develop the propulsion systems and soliciting international aerospace firms, they said.
Taking on the technological challenge of indigenously developing modern fighter jet engines was to ensure the nation would not be reliant on an outside source for a major weapon system’s key components, the source said.
The bet did not appear to be paying off as the institute encountered unspecified problems that might have to do with metallurgy techniques required for the high-pressure compressors used in powerful engines, they said.
The institute previously told lawmakers that it has achieved or acquired 12 crucial technologies to build medium-sized turbofan engines but not the large units called for by the ADF program.
However, the ministry would continue to push toward developing the technological know-how to manufacture jet engines while also looking for other solutions, including the General Electric F414, they said.
The US Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornets are jets that use two F414 turbines, which generate 26,000 pounds of thrust altogether, the source said.
A a ministry spokesperson declined to comment on the AFD program, saying that next year’s military budget is still being designed with countering specific threats and operational priorities in mind.
No specific details about the budget can be provided until the Executive Yuan finalizes the ministry’s expenditure limit, they said.
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