Five American companies eyeing Taiwan's aging F-5s

Taipei, Nov. 10 (CNA) Five American defense companies have expressed an interest in purchasing Taiwan's aging F-5s that were in service for half a century until late 2023, the Air Force confirmed Sunday.

Air Force Command Headquarters said it will soon put the F-5s on sale through a public tender and transfer the jets to the winner of the tender based on the U.S. Security Assistance Management Manual.

The Air Force's confirmation came after CNA learned that the five American companies were interested in purchasing the 40-plus F-5s Taiwan has that are deemed to be in good condition despite serving for nearly 50 years in the Air Force.

They are hoping to sell the F-5s back to the U.S. Air Force and Navy to be used as enemy fighters in training programs, CNA has learned.

Taiwan's Air Force has around 50 F-5s that have mostly served as trainer jets.

All of them were retired from service in late 2023 and replaced by Taiwan's indigenous advanced jet trainers (AJT), also known as the Brave Eagle.

Four of the F-5s, which have been converted into RF-5 reconnaissance jets, will remain operational until the military gets MS-110 pods, MQ-9B drones and domestic drones in the coming years to boost its intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, an unnamed source previously told CNA.

Based in eastern Hualien Air Base, these RF-5s' main mission is to conduct reconnaissance missions with F-16Vs and observe Chinese forces.

During natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, the RF-5s also help gather information on the scale of the destruction.

Washington approved the sale of six MS-110s to Taiwan in October 2020, but Taiwan's military has yet to receive them. The delivery is expected to be completed in 2025.

Taiwan's military is also scheduled to receive the first two MQ-9B "SkyGuardian" drones it purchased from the U.S. in 2026, and the other two in 2027.