Taiwan’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) has reported major declines in revenue and profit for fiscal year (FY) 2020.
The state-owned company said its revenues for FY 2020 were TWD21.04 billion (USD747 million): a 26% decline compared to the TWD28.54 billion registered lthe year before. Net profit fell from TWD1.87 billion in 2019 to TWD395 million: a decline of 79%.
The company did not state the scope of its defence sales but last year the military-commercial split of revenues was 41:59, with the majority attributed to civilian aerospace.
The Covid-19 pandemic severely disrupted AIDC’s civilian aerospace business and the company’s supplies of components and services to both Airbus and Boeing last year.
AIDC’s military-production activity is thought to have remained relatively strong in 2020, despite the effects of Covid-19.
During 2020 AIDC’s defence programmes centred on its projects for the Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF) to develop the T-5 Yung Yin (‘Brave Eagle’) advanced jet trainer/light fighter aircraft and the upgrade of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter aircraft.
In March AIDC announced that the T-5 will soon be handed over to the RoCAF to undergo operational testing and evaluation. The first T-5 prototype conducted its first flight in June 2020, about nine months after it was rolled out. The second prototype flew in late December 2020.
The RoCAF is expected to acquire 66 units of the twin-seat T-5 under a TWD68.6 billion contract awarded in 2017.
A recent AIDC milestone has also been reported on the F-16 project, which consists of upgrading 142 F-16A/B/C/D Fighting Falcon combat aircraft to F-16V standard.
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