Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) is studying the development of a successor to its F-CK-1 Indigenous Defence Fighter (IDF), with the so-called F-CKX to enter service by the end of the next decade given approval by the nation's defence ministry.

Government funding is necessary for the project to go ahead and AIDC could ask for it from the 2009 fiscal year, says chairman Kent Feng. For now, the company's first priority is to get funding for the upgraded IDF, which AIDC calls the F-CK-2. "These upgrades are essential for the F-CK-1 fleet. We've test flown two aircraft now, and we hope to get the budget to go ahead with them from the 2008 fiscal year," says Feng.

F-CK-1 
© BAE Systems

Upgraded and new fighters are essential for Taiwan's air force, with its Northrop F-5s in need of replacement and around half of its Dassault Mirage 2000s grounded due to a lack of spare parts. Taipei wants to buy 66 Lockheed Martin F-16C/Ds to bolster its fleet of around 130 F-16A/Bs, but the $1.3 billion deal is unlikely to be approved by the US administration until next year. It is also interested in Lockheed's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, but is not a programme partner and will be low in the exports priority list. Some observers estimate that the earliest it would get the F-35, if it is even allowed to due to the design's use of stealth materials, will be well into the 2020s.

"Taiwan needs to replenish its air force in the next decade and our next-generation fighter could be the answer. A new aircraft would take at least 10 years to develop, so we must start now," says Feng, who concedes that AIDC needs massive investment if it is to gain the technological know-how and industrial capability to design and produce a new fighter. Collaboration with foreign partners is possible, and Feng says: "If Western companies want to help us, we are willing to talk to them."

However, Whether western manufacturers would be willing to work with the company is another issue, says one Taipei-based observer. "I don't see how the legislature will give its approval for such a big project, given that all military procurements are facing difficulty in getting funding, and especially when it would be far cheaper to just go and buy new aircraft outright," the observer notes.

"Next, all Western manufacturers now have a good relationship with China, and the USA is keen on good ties with the mainland as well. Would they risk that by helping Taiwan build a new fighter? I doubt it. This project will be an uphill task for AIDC and Taiwan."

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Source: Flight International

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