Politics

ROC needs F-16s to maintain status quo

• Publication Date：05/13/2010
• Source： Taiwan Today
• By  Michelle Lu

The U.S.-Taiwan Business Council issued a warning May 11 that Taiwan urgently needs to upgrade its air force capability, in particular its squadron of F-16 fighter jets.

If Taiwan does not acquire 66 F-16 C/D jet fighters soon, by 2025 it will only have 80 operational fighter planes left capable of withstanding a military attack by mainland China, the council said in an independent report titled “The Balance of Air Power in the Taiwan Strait.”

The report also examines measures Taiwan could undertake to strengthen its air defense and provide a detailed public assessment of the issues.

To accompany the release of the report, the chamber held a news event and seminar on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Moderated by U.S.-Taiwan Business Council President Rupert Hammond-Chambers, the seminar examined the ramifications of the report.

Several authors who contributed to the report participated in the seminar, including Fu Mei, director of the Taiwan Security Analysis Center, and Richard Fisher, Senior Fellow of the International Assessment & Strategy Center.

Hammond-Chambers stressed that the U.S. is responsible for maintaining peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region. “The negligence of security across the Taiwan Strait will send the wrong message to mainland China and damage the credibility of the U.S. among it allies, such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore,” according to Hammond-Chambers.

Though Taiwan currently has a total of 387 jet fighters, its 60 F-5 E/Fs have reached the end of their operational service life, while its 126 Indigenous Defense Fighters have limited combat range, the report noted.

Moreover, the Air Force’s 56 Mirage 2000-5 fighters suffer from high maintenance costs and lack required spare parts, according to Fu.

“There are no more than 240 jet fighters operationally capable in actual combat,” Fu said.

“The F-16 C/D supply chain is scheduled to shut down in 2013. This means that Taiwan still has only 36 months left to persuade Washington to sell Taiwan the fighter jets it needs,” according to Fu.

Fisher pointed out that China had made great strides in the development of jet fighters missiles and anti-satellite devices.

If Taiwan cannot keep up with the mainland, it will be left with no choice but to develop middle or long range surface-to-surface missiles, which would make the situation even more complicated.

Erich Shih, chief editor of the magazine Defense International, echoed Fisher’s assessment of China’s military forces.

“After the 1990s, the end of the cold war, China made a great leap in the development of military technology by acquiring know-how and facilities from the former Soviet Union. Along the way, Taiwan lost the edge it previously owned,” Shih added.

Fisher said that since the air power gap between Taiwan and China is widening, obtaining F-16 C/D fighters will by no means guarantee that Taiwan can retake the lead over mainland China. But doing so will at least ensure that the nation has a basic combat capacity, he said. (KP-HZW)

Write to Michelle Lu at kaiping@mail.gio.gov.tw