In the late 1980 s, due to the continuous introduction of new models by phantom 2000 competitor F-16, in order to maintain its competitiveness in the arms market, French manufacturer Thomson CSF, which was still a state-owned enterprise at the time, decided to invest at its own expense in improving the radar and avionics systems of the phantom 2000 family. The plan is to upgrade the early illusion 2000C and illusion 2000B to illusion 2000-5. Since the development project did not receive financial support from the French Air Force, it relied on the Flying Dragon project of the Republic of China Air Force, which was the first to use Phantom 2000-5 to purchase new aircraft, to share a lot of funds. According to the procurement of fighters at the time