Taiwan's Trainer Aircraft That Rejected the Korean T-50

[Military Analyst Kim Daeyoung] On June 11th at 9:34 AM (local time), a new aircraft took off powerfully into the sky from the Qingquangang (Qingquangang) base in Taichung, central Taiwan.

This was the first flight of the T-5 Yongying advanced trainer, produced by Hanxiang Aerospace Industry, Taiwan's leading aircraft manufacturer. "Yongying" means "Brave Eagle."

The Republic of China, i.e., Taiwan, has a much longer history of trainer aircraft development compared to South Korea. In 1968, they produced the PL-1B Jieshou, an elementary trainer. Later, in 1973, the domestically produced intermediate trainer Zhongxing was developed and used, with over 50 units produced. In 1975, the domestically produced advanced trainer AT-3 Zizhang was created. Over 60 units of the Zizhang were produced, and from 2002 to 2016, life extension programs were conducted. It is still used as an advanced trainer by the Taiwanese Air Force. Although the Zizhang underwent life extension, a series of accidents starting in 2012 resulted in pilot fatalities.

Additionally, the aircraft's performance was insufficient for training future air force pilots. Consequently, the Taiwanese Air Force began planning to introduce a new advanced trainer in the early 2000s.

After much controversy, during President Ma Ying-jeou's administration, a plan called Yangji Guozao (foreign aircraft domestically produced) was decided to license-produce foreign advanced trainers domestically. This was due to Taiwan's situation where direct import of military aircraft was difficult because of pressure from China, and to appease the Taiwanese aerospace industry that advocated for domestic development of advanced trainers.

The foreign models considered for acquisition at the time included the T-50, jointly developed by Korea Aerospace Industries and Lockheed Martin of the U.S., and the M-346, produced by Leonardo of Europe. The T-50 was planned to be license-produced by Evergreen Group, famous for EVA Air, in partnership with Korea Aerospace Industries and Lockheed Martin.

On the other hand, Hanxiang Aerospace Industry planned to license-produce the M-346 made by Leonardo. However, when President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016, the Yangji Guozao plan was abandoned, and the Guoji Guozao, Ziran Zizai (domestic aircraft domestically produced, self-made) policy was adopted, ultimately deciding to independently develop the advanced trainer in Taiwan.

On February 7, 2017, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (equivalent to South Korea's Agency for Defense Development), and Hanxiang Aerospace Industry agreed to develop a domestically produced advanced trainer.

The T-5 advanced trainer was developed based on Taiwan's first domestically produced fighter, the Jingguo. Although based on the Jingguo, over 80% of the parts and composite materials are new, and the localization rate is reported to be 55%. Additionally, a virtual training function has been added to maximize training effectiveness. A total of 66 T-5 advanced trainers are planned for production and are scheduled to be fully deployed to the Taiwanese Air Force by 2026.