Hualien, Eastern Taiwan, Dec. 16 (CNA) Taiwan on Thursday inaugurated another F-16 squadron at an air base in Hualien, eastern Taiwan.
Presiding over the commission of the new squadron, which is also the second to be based at the Hualien base, Air Force Commander-in-Chief Gen. Chen Chao-min urged air force personnel to pay special attention to flight safety at a time when advanced fighters are being introduced to the air force.
The next squadron of the US-made fighters is scheduled to be commissioned early next year, also in Hualien.
Taiwan in 1992 struck a deal to purchase 150 F-16 MLUs (mid-life-upgrade) fighters from the United States, but since March 1998, it has lost four of them, and two of the 60 Mirage 2000-5s it bought from France, in a series of crashes.
Taiwan is demanding compensation from Pratt & Whitney, the US maker of the engines that power the F-16s, alleging that an Aug. 15 crash was caused by engine malfunction.
The F-16s and the Mirage 2000-5s, together with the locally developed IDFs (Indigenous Defense Fighters) now form the backbone of Taiwan's new generation fleet of jet fighters. (By Bear Lee)
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