ROC AIR FORCE PILOT TEST-FIRES AIM-120 MISSILE IN U.S.: REPORT
Washington, Nov. 18 (CNA) An ROC Air Force pilot has successfully
test-fired an AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile
(AMRAAM) in the skies above a U.S. military base in Florida, the
Taiwan Defense Review (TDR) reported in its Nov. 15 issue.
The online publication quoted unidentified U.S. Air Force sources
as saying that Lt. Col. Shih Ching-ya test-fired an AIM-120 missile
from a U.S. Air Force-owned F-16 jet fighter Nov. 10.
It marked the first time ever that a member of Taiwan's Air Force
has test-fired an AIM-120 missile which has a range of more than 30
kilometers, the TDR report said.
U.S. authorities would not make any comments on the AMRAAM
test-firing report. They also kept mum on recent speculation that the
United States would not allow test-firing of the advanced air-to-air
missile in Taiwan out of concerns about the possibility that the move
might enable mainland China to decode the AMRAAM's function keys.
Taiwan has ordered some 200 AIM-120 missiles to be installed on
its F-16 fighters.
The AIM-120 missile is a new generation air-to-air missile. The
guided missile has an all-weather, beyond-visual-range capability and
active radio frequency target detection. The missile is faster,
smaller and lighter than its precursor, the AIM-7 Sparrow series, and
has improved capabilities against low-altitude targets.
The missile incorporates an active radar with an inertial
reference unit and micro-computer system. Once the missile closes in
on a target, its active radar guides it to intercept the target,
according to military experts.
Previous press reports said the United States had agreed to sell
the missiles to Taiwan on the condition that they be stored in the
United States and only delivered when mainland China acquired a
weapons system of similar capability, such as the Russian-made AA-12.
The United States imposed the restriction mainly to avoid
criticism that it was triggering an arms race in the Taiwan Strait
region by transferring the sophisticated missiles. Both the AA-12 and
the AIM-120 fall into the category of active radar-homing and
fire-and-forget missiles. As mainland China has acquired AA-12
missiles, the United States has agreed to deliver AIM-120 missiles to
Taiwan step-by-step.
U.S. sources said the first batch of the Taiwan-ordered AIM-120
missiles was delivered this summer, but they added, it may still take
a while before the missiles can be commissioned into service because
hardware assembling, software implanting, data links and
manpower training have not yet been completed.
(By Jay Chen and Sofia Wu)
ENDITEM/Li
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
