MND PLANS TO BUY NEW FIGHTER PLANES
ROC Central News Agency
2006-05-18 21:36:01
Taipei, May 18 (CNA) The military is planning to purchase a new generation of fighter planes, but the type of the aircraft to be procured has yet to be decided, a Ministry of National Defense (MND) official said Thursday.
Lt. Gen. Cheng Shih-yu, deputy chief of the General Staff for Operations and Planning, made the remarks while fielding questions at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's Defense Committee.
During the meeting, opposition Kuomintang Legislator Lin Yu-fang asked Cheng whether the MND has a plan to purchase 60 new F16C/D fighters from the United States to maintain Taiwan's air supremacy in the face of China's intensified military buildup, including its successive deployment of advanced Russian-built SU-27 and SU-30 fighters.
Quoting an MND assessment, Cheng said there might be a deficiency or insufficiency in the air force's combat capability after 2010. To cope with the situation, Cheng said a new fighter procurement plan is being worked out, but the type of plane to be purchased has yet to be determined.
Asked whether the United States is more likely to sell Taiwan F-15 or F-18 fighters than the F-16C/D, Cheng said the possibility of the U.S. selling F-15s or F-18s to Taiwan is slim.
Cheng also told lawmakers that the MND plans to retire all of its F-5E/Fs in 2010, with the locally developed IDF fighters taking over their function as training craft.
Meanwhile, Cheng denied a report that the air force will sell or mothball its 56 Mirage 2000-5 fighters purchased from France to simplify the military's aerial combat fleet. The report was not factual, Cheng said, adding that the Mirage fighters were used in the just-concluded Han Kuang No. 22 computer simulation drill.
(By Sofia Wu)
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