The military unveiled an upgraded version of its locally produced indigenous defense fighter (IDF) warplane yesterday, to help boost the nation's defenses against China until Taipei can purchase more modern fighter planes from the West.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) presided over the ceremony yesterday at the Chingchuankang Airbase in Taichung.
Referring to the modified Indigenous Defense Fighter-II (IDF-II) "Hsiung Ying" (雄鷹, or "Goshawk"), Chen said he hoped the new model would protect the homeland with the ferocity of a Taiwan goshawk.
PHOTO: CHAN CHAO-YANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Chen watched a demonstration flight of two jets and later on inspected one on the ground. He praised the aircraft's development, but again urged the Legislative Yuan to hasten the approval of a billion-dollar arms budget to buy 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft, eight diesel submarines and six PAC-III anti-missile batteries from the US.
`A pity'
"It is a great pity that the three arms-purchase plans have not yet been passed by the legislature," he said. "National security should transcend party politics."
The Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) spent NT$7 billion (US$200 million) and seven years upgrading the IDFs that it manufactured between 1981 and 1999, with help from the US.
The project was approved by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the budgets were earmarked by the Democratic Progressive Party administration, beginning in 2001.
The IDF was named "Ching-kuo" (經國) after Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), late president and son of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石). It has been upgraded to improve its combat-capabilities against Chinese forces.
Modifications
The modifications included improving the jet's flight control system and cockpit, enlarging the fuel tanks and equipping the planes with the capacity to carry air-to-air missiles and anti-radiation missiles.
The Air Force's fleet now consists of 130 IDFs, 150 US-made F-16A/Bs and 60 French-built Mirage 2000-5s. Taiwan is also seeking to buy 66 F-16C/Ds.
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), who accompanied Chen to the test flight and naming ceremony at the AIDC in Taichung County yesterday morning, mistakenly referred to the new model as the "Taiwan bald eagle."
Noticing her blunder, the vice president then corrected herself and said that the right name, Hsiung Ying, was the combination of "Ying Hsiung" (英雄, hero) and "goshawk" (蒼鷹).
Saying that government policies should continue regardless of which party is in power, Chen yesterday urged opposition parties to stop letting politics get in the way of the passage of government budgets and bills in the legislature because of upcoming elections.
"I hereby call on the opposition parties to refrain from hindering the government from serving the nation," he said. "I also hope that Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) can use his political influence to help pass the government budget as well as bills for the benefit of the people and the country."
Jeopardy
"It is beyond comprehension that in a normal democracy, government budgets are still bogged down in the legislature at the end of March," he said. "As long as the budget doesn't pass the legislature, national development and the welfare of the people will be in grave jeopardy."
Citing the example of the IDF upgrade project, Chen said that his administration did not overturn the project nor discount the budgets, even though the project had been approved by the former administration.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat