An air force workshop

AIDC began on 1 March 1969 as the Aero Industry Development Center of the Republic of China Air Force, a state workshop meant to give Taiwan some independence in the air. Its early work was learning by licence. Between 1969 and 1976 it co-produced 118 Bell UH-1H helicopters for the army, then assembled Northrop F-5E and F-5F fighters locally as the Chung Cheng. It also built small trainers, including the PL-1B, a licensed version of the American Pazmany PL-1, and the T-CH-1, a trainer derived from the North American T-28. Self-reliance was the watchword.

The fighter America would not sell

That word became urgent when the United States recognised Beijing and ended its defence treaty with Taiwan. On 28 August 1980 President Chiang Ching-kuo ordered AIDC to design an indigenous fighter, and Washington, under Chinese pressure, declined to sell either the F-16 or the F-20 Tigershark, which Northrop had largely developed with Taiwan in mind. AIDC built the Indigenous Defense Fighter with American technical help and a radar based on the one General Electric had developed for the F-20. Its first prototype flew on 28 May 1989, and the jet was named after the late president. The order for 256 was cut to 130 in 1991, when the US and France finally agreed to sell F-16s and Mirage 2000s.

A trainer of its own

Before the fighter came a trainer. Design of the twin-engined AT-3 Tzu Chung, whose name means self-reliance, began in 1975 with Northrop’s help; the prototype rolled out on 17 July 1980 and flew on 16 September. Sixty production aircraft followed between 1984 and 1990, some fitted for night attack, and two single-seat A-3 Lei Ming attack prototypes were built before priority shifted to the Ching-kuo. The AT-3 trained a generation of Taiwanese fast-jet pilots, and the XC-2 transport prototype showed the centre’s ambition, if not always its market.

From state arsenal to stock market

In 1983 AIDC moved under the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, in 1996 it became a government-owned company, and on 25 August 2014 it was privatised through a public share offering, with the state keeping 39 per cent. It grew into a major aerostructures supplier: doors for every Boeing 737 since 2003, the cockpit of the Sikorsky S-92, tail and rear fuselage for the Bombardier Challenger 300, and composite belly panels for the Airbus A320 family from a 5,500 square metre composites centre opened in Taichung in 2016. Its Taichung campus, complete with historic aircraft on display, houses more than 3,000 staff.

Brave Eagle and the F-16V

Today AIDC’s two big military jobs are upgrading and replacing. From 2016 it worked with Lockheed Martin to convert 142 of Taiwan’s F-16A/Bs to F-16V standard, delivering the first locally upgraded fighter on 20 October 2018, though a manpower shortage slowed the work. In 2017 its XAT-5, derived from the Ching-kuo, won the competition to replace the AT-3 and F-5 trainers, with 66 aircraft planned. Named the T-5 Brave Eagle, its first production aircraft flew on 21 October 2021. In July 2025 China put AIDC on an export-control list, and the company answered by building drone supply chains with Japanese partners.

Továrny

• Taichung campus · Taichung — Headquarters and final assembly, next to Overseas Chinese University
• Taiwan Advanced Composite Center · Taichung — NT$1.5 billion composites plant opened 2016, mainly A320 parts

Lidé

• Chiang Ching-kuo · President of the Republic of China — Ordered the indigenous fighter on 28 August 1980; the IDF is named after him