Taiwan is to assess whether the service life of some of its Mirage fighter jets can be extended for strategic and risk-related reasons, the Air Force Command Headquarters said in a statement on Monday.
The air force said it has enlisted the help of French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation to help evaluate the possibility of extending the life of nine of Taiwan’s Dassault Mirage 2000 two-seat fighters.
Taiwan acquired a fleet of 60 of the Mirage fighters starting in 1997. They are entering the later stage of their life cycle, and the cost of maintaining and repairing the planes exceeds that of the other aircraft used by the air force.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
The air force said it has budgeted NT$150 million (US$4.76 million) to commission Dassault to evaluate whether nine of its two-seater Mirage planes could serve Taiwan for another 20 years, with the assessment scheduled to be completed by July 2026.
Taiwan wants to extend the service life of some of the two-seaters in part because they can be used for regular missions and training sessions, giving the air force strategic flexibility, said a military source who asked to remain anonymous.
Taiwan has purchased 66 F-16Vs from the US, but there are questions about their delivery given that there have already been delays, the source said.
The first two of the F-16Vs were to be delivered by the end of this year, but that has been postponed until the third quarter of next year.
If Taiwan were to retire all of its Mirage 2000s without the security of having the F-16Vs, it could potentially create a personnel and military power vacuum, and keeping the French fighters would protect the air force against that risk, the source said.
Of Taiwan’s 60 Mirage-2000 fighters, six have been destroyed in crashes, but they still remain one of the nation’s three main fighter models, and are deployed mainly to protect Taiwan’s northern airspace.
The Mirage 2000s have also been deployed to Taitung County many times to safeguard the nation’s southeastern airspace.
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