Taiwan finishes Brave Eagle trainer deliveries with final two jets

Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation delivered the last two T-5 Brave Eagle advanced jet trainers to the Republic of China Air Force on September 24, 2026, finishing a programme that built 66 aircraft.

The jets, serial numbers 1165 and 1166, left Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taichung at about 11:00 local time, the company said. They made a low pass over AIDC's Shalu plant, then landed at Gangshan in Kaohsiung, home of the air force academy, at 11:36. AIDC chairman Tsao Chin-ping flew on aircraft 1166 with a company test pilot.

The handover came seven years to the day after the first prototype was presented in Taichung in 2019, when the type was named Brave Eagle.

Launched in 2017, the effort involved the air force, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology and AIDC. AIDC led design integration, parts manufacture, assembly and testing. More than 200 Taiwanese suppliers took part, the company said.

The trainer is based on the F-CK-1 Ching-kuo Indigenous Defense Fighter, but AIDC says more than 80% of the aircraft was redesigned, including its shape and aerodynamics. Domestic content is put at 55%.

The jet went from design to first flight in three years and two months, according to the company, with the prototype flying in June 2020. Series output began in 2021, and the air force showed the type publicly at Chihhang Air Base in July 2022.

AIDC said shortages of imported systems and components during the COVID-19 pandemic and later geopolitical disruption affected production.