With US-made F-16 jet fighters grounded after the most recent crash, the air force yesterday relied on French-built Mirage 2000-5 fighters to put on an air show in Kaohsiung County for President Lee Teng-hui (
The show was part of celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the ROC Air Force Academy, which is based in Kaohsiung County's Kangshan township.
With the absence of F-16s, the Mirage 2000-5s stole the limelight during the show, which also included a limited display by the domestically-built Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF).
The show was basically a solo turn by Major Liu Hui-chien (柳惠千) -- the air force's top Mirage pilot -- who demonstrated a high level of proficiency in maneuvering the advanced aircraft.
Air Force General Headquarters said Liu's skill is comparable by now to that of the top Mirage test pilot from France who stunned Taiwan two years ago with his superb manipulation of the delta-winged aircraft.
Lt. Col. Yin Shih-hsien (尹時賢), a spokesman for the air force said: "The French test pilot said Liu is one of the best Mirage pilots in the world."
Aerial stunts peculiar to the Mirage 2000-5, especially the "rocking roll," were presented before President Lee and the military leadership including defense minister Tang Fei (唐飛) and chief of the general staff Gen. Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明).
The rocking roll is a combination horizontal and vertical swerving movement that only the Mirage can perform.
The US-made F-16 A/B fighter did not participate in the air show since all such aircraft in the air force have been grounded since one of them crashed in Chiayi, southern Taiwan, on Aug. 18.
The crash was the fourth of its kind since the aircraft was first deployed in Taiwan in 1997. The four accidents have killed five pilots and injured one.
President Lee, speaking on the occasion, said: "With the consecutive commissioning of IDFs, F-16s, Mirage 2000s and the early warning aircraft E-2Ts [in recent years], Taiwan's air force has greatly upgraded its combat capability."
"The air force is our first line of defense against China and it must provide a solid shield for national security," Lee said.
Yin said: "The Mirage 2000 has similar overall combat capabilities as the Sukhoi-27 used by the Chinese."
"But the Mirage is equipped with better weapons such as medium-range Mica air-to-air missile (AAM), while the Chinese Su-27 has only short-range AAMs," said Yin.
But according to former air force pilot and military writer Rex Chen (
Chen said: "The chance of dog fights occurring over the Taiwan Strait is present despite the fact that the fire-and-forget AAMs have become the major weapons of new fighter planes."
Lee's re-definition in July of Taiwan's relations with China as state to state in nature has caused tension in the Taiwan Strait, with China increasing aerial sorties over the Taiwan Strait and troop maneuvers.
Military observers said although Taiwan would never take any provocative military action during the period of tension with China, it was expressing its anger against Beijing's bullying in a milder way -- by holding more military activities under various pretexts.
In July, the military arranged an intensive media trip to the offshore Kinmen and Matsu islands, which face China's Fujian Province, to provide for a better understanding of the armed forces' combat readiness on its front line.
RSS