The AT-3 is in a special class of aircraft that specialize in both advanced pilot training as well as light combat and includes such mounts as the Czech Aero L-39, British BAe HAWK and the Spanish CASA C-101. These aircraft types are usually designed to be cost-effective, limited multi-role measures that provide some offensive "punch" with a high degree of agility. This allows the aircraft to be used in the training role, close-support role and light strike role as needed. The AT-3 was only the second product of Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) and followed the propeller-driven Chung Tsing - which was nothing more than a local-production version of the North American two-seat T-28 Trojan - and represented a highly-advanced indigenous Taiwanese design for its time.
