Taiwan may buy up to 120 new military trainer aircraft, officials said yesterday as military experts evaluated the air force's needs for the next few decades.
"The air force's trainer aircraft will be gradually retired from 2010 to 2017," said Butch Hsu, executive vice president of state-owned aircraft maker, Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC).
"The air force may buy up to 120 new trainers from foreign aircraft makers," he said.
"The new ones will also need to match the aircraft with [advanced] fighters" like the Joint Strike Fighters being developed by the US, Hsu said.
The air force's fleet of jet fighters used to train pilots is currently composed of 200 US-made T-34Cs, F-5E/Fs and locally developed AT-3s.
Among the three proposals being evaluated by the air force is a refitting of the AIDC's Indigenous Defense Fighters, Hsu said.
A third option was to launch an industrial cooperation program between the AIDC and a select foreign aircraft maker to produce the next-generation trainers, he added.
The air force declined to comment on Hsu's remarks.
The AIDC is scheduled to submit a report to the Cabinet next month, Hsu said, as dozens of aviation experts from here and abroad gather in Taipei for the two-day "Next Generation Trainer and Training Approach Symposium."
Experts from Pilatus Co of Switzerland, AerMacchi of Italy as well as Raytheon and Tiger Century Aircraft of the US are in Taipei to attend the event.
The air force was expected to make a final decision some time between late this year and early next year, Hsu said.
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
SUPPORT: Arms sales to NATO Plus countries such as Japan, South Korea and Israel only have to be approved by the US Congress if they exceed US$25m The US should amend a law to add Taiwan to the list of “NATO Plus” allies and streamline future arms sales, a US commission said on Tuesday in its annual report to the US Congress. The recommendation was made in the annual report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which contained chapters on US-China economic and trade ties, security relations, and Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the chapter on Taiwan, the commission urged the US Congress to “amend the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 to include Taiwan on the list of ‘NATO Plus’ recipients,” referring to
MEET AND GREET: The White House, which called the interaction ‘just a handshake,’ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan. During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said. Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is
RSS