Taiwan receives final T-5 Brave Eagle trainers as programme closes
Taiwan's air force has taken delivery of its last two AIDC T-5 Brave Eagle advanced jet trainers, completing a fleet of 65 aircraft. Deliveries over the programme totalled 66, one having been lost in a 2025 crash.
Taiwan's air force has received the last two AIDC T-5 Brave Eagle advanced jet trainers, taking its fleet to 65 aircraft and closing out the delivery programme.
The two jets, serialled 1165 and 1166, arrived at the Gangshan Air Force Academy on 24 September, according to the manufacturer.
The T-5 is a twin-engined derivative of the indigenous F-CK-1 Ching-kuo fighter and is powered by a pair of Honeywell F124 engines. It replaces Taiwan's Northrop F-5E/Fs, which have been retired, and the AIDC-produced AT-3.
The programme was launched in 2017 with AIDC, the Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology and the air force taking part. The first prototype was completed in September 2019 and flew for the first time in June 2020.
Overall deliveries of the type came to 66 aircraft, one more than the number now in service. In February 2025 a single T-5 was lost after both of its engines failed; the pilot ejected safely.
Separately, AIDC upgraded 139 Republic of China Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16s to the F-16V configuration, work that was completed in late 2023.
Sources
- flightglobal.comAIDC wraps up T-5 Brave Eagle deliveries