Taiwan finished building its home-grown Brave Eagle trainer jet fleet, a win for the island's push to make its own military aircraft instead of buying them abroad.

• The last two Brave Eagle jets rolled out of AIDC's Taichung plant and were handed to the air force, completing all 66 planned aircraft.
• The program took seven years from the first plane to the last, and was launched to prove Taiwan could design and build modern jets itself.
• The Brave Eagle replaces the aging AT-3, which flew its final training mission in July after four decades of service.
• It follows a long line of Taiwanese-built aircraft, from early propeller trainers to the F-5 and the IDF fighter, the backbone of the island's air defense.

Outlook: Attention now shifts to whether Taiwan can carry the same domestic build-up into combat aircraft and other weapons as pressure from China grows.