TAITUNG, Taiwan—Taiwan’s air force showed off its new locally designed and made jet trainer on Wednesday, touting the more advanced, combat-capable abilities of the aircraft that will replace aging and accident-prone existing equipment.
Taiwan’s armed forces are mostly equipped by the United States, but President Tsai Ing-wen has made development of an advanced home-grown defense industry a priority, especially as China, which claims the island as its own, steps up military modernization efforts and drills near Taiwan.
The new AT-5 Brave Eagle, made by state-owned Aerospace Industrial Development Corp with a budget of T$68.6 billion ($2.3 billion), had its first test flight in 2020….