'Made in Taiwan' Fighter Jets Face Obstacles After Crash

TaiwanPlus News

Investigators are looking into why a military aircraft crashed over the weekend, sparking debate about the safety of Taiwan’s domestically made planes.

Transcript

00:00This is Taiwan's indigenous jet trainer, known as the AT-5, or the Brave Eagle.

00:09It's a domestically-made aircraft used to train pilots, and on Saturday, it suffered

00:17its first crash since entering service in 2021.

00:23Sources close to the Air Force say that a double-engine failure caused the aircraft

00:27to go down in the ocean, though the pilot is safe.

00:31The entire fleet of roughly 40 aircraft has been grounded for inspection.

00:35But observers in Taiwan are not too concerned about the safety of the Brave Eagle.

00:40Compared to other jets like the French-made Mirage 2000 or the U.S.-made F-16, made-in-Taiwan

00:45aircraft rarely face incidents.

00:48It is the safest fighter jet in its entire fleet, along with F-16s and the MiG-29s.

00:56You have the lowest incidence rates.

00:59So it's a very safe jet.

01:01So I wouldn't say that this would raise much concern."

01:09The Brave Eagle is part of Taiwan's efforts to reduce its reliance on other countries

01:13like the U.S. for weapons and defense equipment.

01:16More than half of the components for the jet are made in Taiwan, but when it comes

01:20to technical issues or complications, that's when Taiwan faces trouble, as it's hard

01:25for Taiwan to seek help from the international community because no one else flies these

01:29planes.

01:30The aircraft is often compared to the F-16, one of the most flown fighter jets in the

01:35world, with an established community to help troubleshoot problems.

01:39While troubleshooting may be more difficult, some experts say that this doesn't mean Taiwan

02:04should abandon its domestic industry.

02:06The Air Force is still waiting for delivery of a total of 66 jet trainers.

02:11Taiwan Plus was invited by the military last year to see how they are used, with advanced

02:16flight simulators similar to the Brave Eagle helping to improve training.

02:20In spite of the crash, analysts say that Taiwan's Air Force should think carefully

02:48about the investments it will have to make to ensure its domestically made aircraft have

02:52the parts, maintenance and support they need.

03:10While the investigation into Saturday's crash continues, Taiwan is alone in trying to find

03:15out what exactly happened.

03:17But as the country develops its own aircraft in pursuit of building up domestic defense

03:21industries, these lessons will have to be learned the hard way.

03:25John Su and Jaime O'Connor for Taiwan Plus.

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