Taitung Air Base / Chihhang Airbase
Tai-Tung AB and Chih-hang AB are the same airbase.
As of the late 1990s, the longest runway at Taitung was reportedly 5,315 feet long. However, other reports indicate the longest runway to be about 11,000 ft.
To develop the air transportation of the East Side of Taiwan, the government set up Taitung waiting room in February 1977, which is the predecessor of the civilian air station. On 1 July 1981, Taitung Airport Office was formally established by order, and relocated to the present site in Feng-Nan on 31 October of the same year due to military strategic needs. Moreover, the economic boom and deregulation of air space since 1986 have generated tourism and thriving development of the aviation industry. To cope with the market needs, the civil aviation building expansion was undertaken in 1990 and completed in 1991.
As of mid-2002, a second mountain aircraft shelter was being built there, smaller than the one at Hua-Lien/Chia Shan AB, but still designed to increase Taiwan's second line of wartime defense. The shelter, once completed, would reportedly be able to hold between 60-80 aircraft, in order to preserve ROCAF combat aircraft strength during wartime operations.
The 46th FS is a independent command unit and is the ACMI/aggressor squadron for the ROCAF. The unit is in the process of transitioning to a newer aircraft, most likely the F-16 with a few IDF and Mirage 2000-5 on loan from other units.
Military radar stations that are located on all the offshore island airports off of Eastern Taiwan have a dual-purpose. Besides having an early detection mission, they also serve as Tai-tung/Chih-hang AB's ACMI range overall radar system. The ACMI system is been upgrade to use GPS rangeless system, similar to the USAF's Red Flag and the USN's Topgun ACM programs being currently used.
Taitung was a sleepy backwater until recently but has been the center of some major tourist developments in recent years.
F-5 | IDF | M2000 | F-16 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wing | Group | Squadron | ||||
7th (737th) TFW | Taitung AB | |||||
7th FG | ||||||
45th TFS | 24 E/F | |||||
45th TFS | 24 E/F | |||||
46th TFS Aggressor | 24 |
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