Taiwan Working on Indigenous Engines for its New Brave Eagle Fighters - Reports

Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology has begun researching a new indigenous engine intended to power its upcoming fighter jets, with work on the program having started in 2018 according to director general Eddie Chien. Taiwan’s last indigenous fighter product the F-CK Ching Kuo, and the F-5E which was mass produced on the island under license, both made use of U.S. manufactured engines. The new engine under development is reportedly set to power Taiwanese ‘Brave Eagle’ fighters, a recently unveiled successor to the Ching Kuo with more advanced ‘4+ generation’ capabilities. The Ching Kuo was powered by two Honeywell/ITEC F125-70 Turbofan engines between them providing 19,000Ibf of thrust with afterburner. Both engines combined put out less thrust than a single F110 engine - which powered the F-16 and F-15 providing 29,500Ibf. This restricted the Ching Kuo to carrying lighter fuel and weapons payloads, while the need for twin engines meant maintenance requirements were higher than they were for the single engine F-16s which Taiwan would later acquire.

Should Taiwan be able to develop engines for the Brave Eagle with both greater thrust and lower maintenance than the F125, the platform’s cost both to acquire and to operate could be reduced substantially while its maintenance and combat performance would be improved. Taiwan has developed impressive engine designs in the past to power its cruise and air to air missiles, one of the most notable being that of the Sky Sword II which is one of just two air to air missiles currently in production in the world capable of attaining hypersonic speeds. The technologies of some of Taiwan’s cruise missiles are closely based on those of fighter jets, namely the American J85 engine. More powerful engines will potentially allow the Brave Eagle not only to integrate a heavier and more powerful sensor suite, but also to deploy a heavier payload of missiles be they the Sky Sword II for an anti aircraft role or the Wan Chien for precision standoff strikes on the Chinese mainland.