Advanced new Taiwan jet trainer crashes in setback for programme

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TAIPEI (Reuters) -One of the Taiwan air force’s new, domestically developed advanced jet trainer aircraft crashed on Saturday after reporting engine failure, though the pilot safely bailed out, the military said.

It was the first major setback for the AT-5 Brave Eagle, made by state-owned Aerospace Industrial Development Corp with a budget of T$68.6 billion ($2.1 billion). The first test flight in 2020.

Taiwan’s air force said the aircraft took off from the Chihhang air base in Taitung on the island’s east coast for a weapons training mission and then reported the failure of both its engines.

The single pilot flying the dual-cockpit aircraft was rescued after parachuting out, while the jet, which had only 183 flying hours, crashed into the sea, it said, adding that an investigation team has been set up.

Taiwan’s air force plans on taking 66 units by 2026 to replace its aging predecessor the AT-3 and U.S.-made F-5 training aircraft, which have suffered a series of crashes in recent years.

Taiwan’s armed forces are mostly equipped by the United States, but the government has made development of an advanced home-grown defence industry a priority, especially as China, which claims the island as its own, steps up military modernisation efforts and drills near Taiwan.

The AT-5 is Taiwan’s first jet made domestically since the F-CK-1 Ching-kuo Indigenous Defence Fighter, or IDF, rolled out more than three decades ago.

The AT-5 is used for both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat training purposes, and can land and take off using a shorter amount of runway. It can be equipped with weapons, though that remains in the testing phase.

($1 = 32.6660 Taiwan dollars)

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Stephen Coates and Edwina Gibbs)