Tainan and the Thunderjets

The team was formed in December 1953 in the 1st Wing at Tainan, set up on the orders of air force commander Wang Shu-ming by officers who had trained in the United States. It was modelled on the USAF Thunderbirds. Its first public display was on Air Force Day, 14 August 1954, and Wang gave it the name Thunder Tigers in 1955. The first leader was Lieutenant Colonel Chou Shih-lin, and the team flew Republic F-84G Thunderjets. One of the six founding pilots was killed in an F-84G in 1956. Another, Li Nan-ping, later joined the Black Cat U-2 squadron and was shot down by an SA-2 over the mainland.

Sabres over America

With the North American F-86F the team grew: nine Sabres displayed in the Philippines in 1957, and in April 1959 nine F-86Fs toured the United States at the USAF’s invitation. Taiwan marked the tour with an airmail stamp issue in February 1960. In October 1959 two Sabres collided during a formation display, killing both pilots. The team moved to the Northrop F-5A in 1967 and to the F-5E in 1975. An F-5A crashed beside Taipei’s Zhongxing Bridge during a display in October 1971, killing the pilot.

The Air Force Academy and the AT-3

On 1 November 1988 the role passed to the fighter instructors of the Air Force Academy at Gangshan, Kaohsiung, flying the locally built AIDC AT-3 in red, white and blue. Two AT-3 pilots have been killed. In June 1997 one crashed while practising a four-point roll. On 21 October 2014 Lieutenant Colonel Chuang Pei-yuan’s AT-3 clipped another aircraft during a three-ship trail roll and came down at Ziguan. He delayed ejecting to steer the jet away from homes and died. The AT-3 fleet was grounded, and the team flew no unofficial public displays until November 2016.

Brave Eagle

On 5 August 2025, at a handover ceremony at Gangshan, AT-3s and AIDC T-BE5A Brave Eagle advanced jet trainers flew together trailing three-colour smoke, and the Thunder Tigers formally moved to the T-BE5A Brave Eagle. Chinese Wikipedia reports that the display team was cut from seven aircraft to five for 2026, with several manoeuvres dropped. The team flies only a few times a year, typically at base open days and on national occasions.