AVIATION FANS

The AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo is a Chinese-American light fighter aircraft that is used by, and was developed for the Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force, it entered active service in 1994, with a total of 131 production aircraft manufactured (production ended in 1999).
 

Although named and commonly known as the Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF), the project was a joint effort between Taiwanese (ROC) and U.S. defense companies, with final assembly by the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) (based in Taichung, in the ROC).

Development:

The AIDC officially began the IDF development project in 1982 following the ROCAF's failure to purchase the F-20 Tigershark from the United States as a result of the PRC's diplomatic pressure. The project was named An Hsiang and divided into four sections in 1983:
 

• Ying-Yang (??): "Soaring Eagle". Development of the airframe. Cooperation with General Dynamics.
   
• Yun-Han (??): "Galaxy". Development of the aircraft powerplant and propulsion. Cooperation with Garrett (Now Honeywell).
   
• Tien-Lei (??): "Sky Thunder". Development of the avionics systems. Cooperation with Smiths Industries, with some components purchased directly from Lear Astronics (later BAE), Litton (later Northrop Grumman), and Martin-Baker.
   
• Tien-Chien (??): "Sky Sword". Development of air-to-air missiles.
   

The IDF program started when purchase of the F-20 Tigershark ran into political problems. The preliminary search for ROCAF's F-5 and F-104 replacement began in the late 1970s. After US established formal relation with People's Republic of China and ended the Mutual Defense Treaty with Taiwan, President Chiang Ching-Kuo decided to expand the indigenous defense industry and ordered AIDC to work on an indigenous high-speed interceptor.

The IDF was designed to counter the PLA's J-8 / J-7 / newer fighters such as J-12, and was intended to have performance on par with the F-16 and Mirage 2000. The greatest difficulties were encountered by the propulsion group in attempting to develop or acquire advanced jet engines suitable for a fighter aircraft. There is also speculation that the use of weaker engines was due to political rather than technical reasons, namely that US did not want to see Taiwan to provoke PLA and thus mandated IDF to have "range no greater than F-5E" and "ground attack capability no greater than F-16".
 

Ying Yang: Aerodynamic Design

The cooperation between AIDC and General Dynamics (GD) was divided into four phases:

1. GD would analyze the ROCAF aircraft performance and force requirements.

2. Taiwan would assess GD's reports and choose between AIDC's original design and GD's new design.

3. AIDC would send personnel to GD for preliminary design.

4. GD would send personnel to Taiwan to complete the project. It should also be noted that GD's assistance was restricted by the U.S. State Department's arms export control, which limited GD's work to initial design consulting but not further development, production, or marketing.

Many different airframe design concepts were explored (i.e. the 2D Thrust-Vectoring nozzle of XX-201, the double delta wings / twin tailed 401). After the General Electric J79 was officially abandoned as the potential engine solution in 1983, three configurations emerged from AIDC. Configuration A was similar to the F-5E. Configuration B was similar to the Eurofighter Typhoon and Saab Gripen. Configuration C was similar to the F-15. At the same time, GD worked on the G configuration in parallel. Eventually the G-4 was selected, but with many features of the C-2 integrated. During this time, the project was named the "Light Weight Defense Fighter". In 1985, the configuration conceptual design had evolved into the SE-1 preliminary design. By the end of 1985, AIDC decided to skip the prototype stage and go into Full Scale Development (FSD) directly, in order to reduce time and save money. The project was again renamed into the "Indigenous Defense Fighter". Four FSD aircraft were made, with three single-seaters and one double-seater

Yun Han: Engine Research

At the end of 1982, the IDF's role shifted from a high-speed interceptor to an air superiority fighter . U.S. engine company Garrett and AIDC invested in the new International Turbine Engine Corporation (ITEC). ITEC completely redesigned the TFE-1042-7 that powers the IDF into the TFE-1042-70, and the investment had increased from USD 1.8 billion to about USD 3.2 billion..

In 1988, ITEC decided to invest in the 12000 lb TFE-1088-12, which was re-designated as TFE-1042-70A. Preliminary study had shown that IDF could supersonic cruise with the new engine. At the same time, GE decided to enter the market with J101/SF, a smaller version of F404. However after the IDF order was cut in half from 250 to 130 in 1992, the TFE-1088-12 engine upgrade plan ended as well. Since then, there are many rumors of AIDC completing engine upgrade research in private, but no direct public announcement of IDF fleet engine upgrade was ever made officially by either ROCAF or AIDC.

Tien Lei: Avionics Integration

The IDF is equipped with a GD-53 Golden Dragon multi-mode pulse-Doppler radar, which is based on the General Electric AN/AGP-67(V) developed for the F-20. Because of the design being inherently unstable in pitch, the IDF incorporated a modern triple-redundant full authority fly-by-wire control system. The avionics suite was based on modular architecture with dual redundant MIL-STD-1553B digital MUX bus. The Honeywell H423 INS, the TWS-95 RHAWS, and the Bendix-King HUD were selected. [5]. It is rumored that some capabilities were delayed or dropped in ordered to meet the performance requirement, since the engine limitation has resulted in the necessity of strict weight control.

Tien Chien: Missile R&D

The CSIST's Tien Chien project was slightly more independent, since it was considered by some officials to be a development for all the ROCAF's aircraft rather than only the IDF. The Tien Chien 1 (TC-1) is a short range infrared-seeking missile with an external configuration similar to that of the AIM-9 Sidewinder, while the Tien Chien 2 (TC-2) is an active radar homing Beyond Visual Range missile that is claimed to be in the same class as the AIM-120 AMRAAM.

The first test firing of the TC-1 was made by a F-5E in April 1986, with the Beech target drone successfully destroyed. Initial production of the TC-1 began in 1989, and it entered service in 1991. Both the AIM-9 and the TC-1 appeared on operational IDFs. The production quantity is unknown.

CSIST is believed to have cooperated with Motorola on the TC-2's active seeker, likely based on the Motorola design proposed for the AIM-120 but not selected by the United States. 40 pre-production TC-2 missiles were produced in response to the 1995-1996 Taiwan Strait Missile Crisis, as one of many emergency measures. 210 production TC-2s are planned, however the production status and timeline is unknown.

General characteristics

• Crew: 1-2

• Length: 14.21 m (46 ft 7 in)

• Wingspan: 9.46 m (31 ft 0 in)

• Height: 4.42 m (14 ft 6 in)

• Wing area: 24.2 m² (260 ft²)

• Empty weight: 6,500 kg (14,300 lb)

• Loaded weight: 9,072 kg (20,000 lb)

• Max takeoff weight: 12,000 kg (27,000 lb)

• Powerplant: 2× TFE1042-70

• Dry thrust: 27 kN (6,000 lbf) each

• Thrust with afterburner: 42 kN (9,500 lbf) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: Mach 1.8

• Range: 1,100 km (600 nm, 680 mi)

• Service ceiling: 16,800 m (55,000 ft)

• Rate of climb: m/s (ft/min)

Armament

• Guns: 1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 cannon

• Missiles:
  • 2× Sky Sword I

  • 2× Sky Sword II

  • Wan Chien cluster bomb

Avionics

• Radar: 1× GD-53 X-band pulse doppler

• Effective scanning range:

  • Look down: 39 km (24 mi)

  • Look up: 57 km (35 mi)