During his five years as a legislator (1989-94), President Chen Shui-bian (
But the president seems to have changed his mind about the plane. "The IDF means `I do fly' or `I do fly very well,'" said Chen as he delivered a speech at the commissioning ceremony for the second IDF combat wing at the Tainan air base in southern Taiwan.
Sixty IDFs form the first combat unit of the air force to enter service during Chen's term in office.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The speech was seen as a reconciliatory gesture to the military, toward the wooing of which Chen has recently expended much effort.
Chen's new enthusiasm for the IDF was welcomed by the air force, which felt psychologically compensated after having been on the end of so much criticism and ridicule from DPP lawmakers during the pre-operational phases of the IDF project.
Chen was among many DPP legislators who coined the term "I don't fly" when several test flights of IDF prototypes resulted in severe accidents caused by mechanical and design flaws.
One test pilot was killed in a crash caused by the tail stabilizer snapping while the aircraft was flying at supersonic speeds.
The situation has changed now. The IDF is, at the moment, the air force's most reliable fighter plane, enjoying the highest percentage of units in constant combat readiness as well as the lowest crash rate of all Taiwan's "second-generation" fighter planes -- IDF, F-16s and Mirage 2000s.
"It is a sweet moment for the IDF. It has now been widely recognized and praised by people in many different fields. We know that the development of the IDF had been met with many difficulties and obstacles. It is now time for the air force to reap the fruits of its past efforts," Chen said.
Besides praising the IDF, Chen also publicly announced for the first time what he wants the air force to do in the years to come.
The first thing Chen wants from the air force is for it to follow and glorify its traditional "Chienchiao" spirit. During the Sino-Japanese war, aircraft of the Chinese air force based in Chienchiao, Zhejiang Province, defeated superior Japanese planes in several of their engagements.
Chen's reference to the "Chienchiao" spirit, rooted in the history of Taiwan's armed forces, was widely interpreted as a message to people in the military who still distrust Chen for his pro-independence leanings and his less-than-fervent identification with the Republic of China.
"I also want the air force to strengthen its combat training, since China still refuses to renounce the use of force against Taiwan no matter how many friendly messages I have sent them since becoming president," Chen said.
"In future, the air force has to beef up its information warfare capability and acquire the ability to obtain the edge in the fields of early warning and long-distance reconnaissance," he added.
Chen's desire for the air force to upgrade its capabilities is a tacit way of describing how he envisages the air force playing its role in enforcing the "offshore full-scale engagement" defense strategy, a defense official said.
At yesterday's IDF commissioning ceremony, the air force presented Chen with a fly-past of 24 IDFs.
The IDF wing which became operational yesterday, is the second combat unit of its kind in the air force, with the other one based at Taichung's Ching Chuan Kang (
The air force bought a total of 130 IDFs, basing half of them in Taichung and the other half in Tainan.
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