TAIPEI (Taiwan News) - StarLux Airlines (星宇航空) will target passengers traveling between the United States and Southeast Asia, as right now too few of them transit in Taiwan, company founder Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) told the media Wednesday

Today December 26, 2018, the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) held an unveiling ceremony for the inauguration of their new Hanger Center of Excellence No. 2. AIDC’s Chairman Liao Rong-Xi said they purchased 20 domestic machine tools for this new facility from four Taiwan manufacturers which echoed the government policy using products made in Taiwan.

The Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) hosted the company’s Investors Conference on December 20, 2018.

Today the AIDC Board of Directors announced their approval of a $2.23 billion N.T. dollar investment in the construction of a Case Module Manufacture Center. Construction is scheduled to complete in Q1 2020, with full operation to start in Q2 2020.

The "2018 Aerospace Industry and Policy Forum" which jointly planned by the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) and the Aerospace Association was held on December 6th and 7th, 2018 at the B1 International Conference Hall of the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) International Convention Center in Taipei, Taiwan.

Four Taiwan organizations took part in the Japan International Aerospace Exhibition Nov. 28-30 in Tokyo, spotlighting a host of domestically developed technologies.

Taiwan intends to improve its competitiveness in the aerospace industry through partnerships between the public and private sectors and international cooperation, Premier Lin Chuan said during a visit to the National Space Organization Saturday.

Taiwan's Air Force celebrated the 25th anniversary of taking its first delivery of locally made IDF fighter jets at an air base in Taichung, and pledged to continue to beef up its capabilities in the face of the military threat from China.

Robotics research and development in Taiwan is supported by the government’s Technology Development Program (TDP), which has contributed over $10.1 million between 2011 and 2016 to fund ongoing efforts to advance the depth of industrial technologies and create innovative technologies.“Based on Taiwan’s economic and strategic location and its advantages in R&D, the government is proactively encouraging domestic and overseas enterprises to set up R&D centers in Taiwan,” stated the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Taiwan’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) has signed an agreement with the country’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to collaborate on 3D printing for aerospace applications.

In the face of China’s rapid military build-up and Beijing’s pressure on other countries not to sell weaponry to Taiwan, “what can Taiwan do except developing its own defense industry?” asks National Chengchi University professor Arthur Ding, a defense specialist. “It’s the inevitable outcome of China’s interference.”

Taiwan has begun to manufacture next-generation trainer jets as it militarizes an island in the South China Sea in response to Chinese buildup in the Spratly Islands. Taiwanese newspaper Liberty Times reported Wednesday that Chung-shan Institute of Science and Technology president Chang Guang-chung signed a contract, on behalf of the government to produce 66 advanced jet trainers with the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation.

Taiwan has finally committed to building its own advanced jet trainer, based on the Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF), instead of buying an off-the-shelf design. The long-awaited move was confirmed last week when Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) commander Gen. Shen Yi-Ming signed a contract worth approximately $2.1 billion with the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCIST), the government’s own defense research and production agency. NCIST will in turn subcontract the airframe from the semi-privatized Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC), which designed and built the IDF from 1980 to 1999 with U.S. assistance. NCIST will retain responsibility for the overall system, including ground-based training.

The Taiwanese government on 7 February committed to support local industry to design and fly a prototype advanced jet trainer by 2020 and deliver 66 production aircraft to replace the air force’s aging fleet of AIDC AT-3 and Northrop F-5F trainers.

Taiwan has begun the process of upgrading its Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft to the latest F-16V configuration, it was confirmed to IHS Jane's on 17 January.

Boeing today announced that Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corp. (EGAT) will perform passenger-to-freighter conversions for the 767-300 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) program. Under the agreement, EGAT, an award-winning aircraft Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in Taiwan, will modify and convert 767-300BCFs. The first airplane will be inducted in 2017, with redelivery anticipated in 2018. Boeing has received 27 firm orders from customers worldwide for the 767-300BCF.

Former EVA Airways Chairman Chang Kuo-wei has no interest in taking over TransAsia Airways as he is already in the process of forming a new airline of his own, reports said Wednesday.

Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) has expanded its industrial programme to boost efficiencies across its supply network, the company told IHS Jane's on 29 November. A company official confirmed that the state-owned firm's so-called 'A-Team 4.0' programme has been expanded to incorporate an additional 74 companies, and that the programme now includes a total of 294 local firms.

As part of the government’s program to develop an indigenous defense industry, the Ministry of National Defense said it would complete the upgrade of four F-16 jets next year, making the nation the first to have a fleet of F-16Vs, while the navy is to tender offers for submarine designs from local companies. Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) is to begin retrofitting the air force’s F-16A/Bs on Jan. 16, and the first four F-16Vs, an upgraded variant of the F-16A/B, would be completed next year, Air Force Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Fan Ta-wei (范大維) said yesterday at a budget review held by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.

Taiwan’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. and U.S. conglomerate General Electric Co. concluded a memorandum of understanding Nov. 16 in Taipei City to cooperate on rapidly deployable, or fast power, energy solutions in the local market and Southeast Asia.

Taiwan will begin the domestic upgrade of its F-16 fighter jets early next year, with four jets expected to be upgraded in 2017, the Air Force said on Thursday. The NT$110 billion (US$3.46 billion) program to upgrade the nation's 144 F-16 A/B jets is the largest and most important upgrade ever undertaken by the Air Force.

Air-cargo company Atlas Air onTuesday tapped Boeing to convert nine used 767 passenger airplanes into freighters that Atlas will fly as part of its 20-jet Prime Air fleet for Amazon. To deliver the freighters more quickly, an industry insider said, Boeing may open a new 767 freighter-conversion line to take on some of the work at one of its existing joint venture aircraft-modification facilities in China or Taiwan.

In early June, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) visited a naval base in northeastern Taiwan’s Yilan County on one of her first military inspections since becoming commander-in-chief. During the tour, she took a brief cruise on the Tuo Jiang, the nation’s first locally built stealth missile corvette. Speaking at the base, Tsai praised the ship as an indicator of Taiwan’s “determination to achieve greater autonomy in national defense.”

Leonardo-Finmeccanica has launched a massive public relations effort in Taiwan to save an agreement with a local aviation company to honor a 2014 deal to co-build the M-346 Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) for filling Taiwan’s air force requirement for 66 aircraft to replace aging AT-3 Tzu Chung attack/trainers.

The global military UAV market values US$8.5 billion in 2016, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.89%, to value US$13.7 billion by 2026

The composite materials distributor Argosy International Inc. (New York, New York) is constructing a new 2,300 m2 materials and manufacturing facility in Taichung City, Taiwan, to bolster its business as supplier of advanced composites and related materials to the aerospace industry in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

The inaugural Aerospace Industry—AIM and Productivity 4.0 Industrial Technology Matching Exhibition opened June 16 in central Taiwan’s Taichung City, highlighting concerted efforts among government, industry and the academia to boost the sector through enhanced coordination and integration of public-private sector resources.

TAIPEI - Taiwan’s defense minister intends to continue newly elected President Tsai Ing-wen’s pledge to develop indigenous weapon systems and wean Taiwan off its dependency on US-made arms. Of particular interested is the local production of a new fighter-trainer to replace the aging AT-3 Tzu Chung attack/trainer, produced by the state-owned Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) in the 1980s.

Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) has invited more than 170 domestic manufacturers to become involved in a project it is leading to boost the efficiency of the national aerospace sector.

An upgrade of Taiwan's fleet of F-16 fighter planes will begin in early 2017, shortly after the completion of a hangar that is being built for that purpose, according to the Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. Upon completion next January, Taiwan's biggest fighter jet maintenance facility will have the capacity to handle the upgrade of 24 aircraft per year in the country's F-16A/B fleet, AIDC Chairman Anson Liao said.

Taiwan's machinery makers should lead in the era of “Industry 4.0” to avoid wasting resources, the head of the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry said yesterday, adding a call for close collaboration among research institutes, academia and the government.

China Eastern Airlines Corp (中國東方航空) said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that the lion’s share of the orders, nearly US$6 billion, will go to Airbus for 20 A350 aircraft. It will also spend close to US$4 billion on 15 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.

Taiwanese machine tool makers yesterday said that orders and demand are on the rise, indicating that the nation’s machine tool industry is recovering from last year’s slump.

Around the world, airlines handled more than 3.3 million passengers in 2014. Fortunately, Taiwan is not without its own aerospace industry. Currently, 90 percent of international flights are taken on airplanes that contain components, whether in the wings, cabin or engine, from one Taiwan company: Aerospace Industrial Development Corp.

Republic of China President-elect Tsai Ing-wen visited Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) on Mar. 28. Tsai encouraged AIDC to pursue its program to develop the XT-5, an advanced jet trainer based on the IDF, to meet the RoCAF’s requirements

The meeting focused on issues that businesses in the nation are most concerned with, such as utility, land and talent shortage, as well as energy supply, global warming and cross-strait relations.

Taiwan's primary aerospace manufacturer, the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC), plans to enhance domestic industrial capability through a strategy it refers to as "A-Team 4.0".

Taiwan is to begin operating direct flights to Madrid and Barcelona as the nation has completed negotiations on an aviation pact with Spain, a source within the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said on Tuesday.

Tsai yesterday visited the nation’s main weapons research and development institute to learn more about the defense industry. She said that her administration will make every effort to build a self-reliant defense industry by contracting local companies and institutes for arms procurement if the weapons and military equipment can be manufactured locally.

Taiwan’s next advanced trainer will be indigenously developed, Defense Minister Kao Kuang-chi has told members of parliament. The program, to replace the AT-3 trainer that Taiwan’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corp.