The air force recently sent a number of F-16 pilots to Guam to test-fire AIM-120 air-to-air missiles, which the US government has agreed to sell to Taiwan, defense sources told the Taipei Times yesterday.
The tests were arranged for the purpose of training Taiwan combat pilots in the use of the state-of-the-art missiles prior to deployment, defense sources said.
It was not known how many missiles Taiwan's F-16 pilots had test-fired in Guam, but the cost of each test is roughly US$60,000. Taiwan is footing the bill.
The tests follow a September announcement that the US is planning to sell Taiwan 200 AIM-120s, including launchers.
Defense sources said that more test-firings were planned.
The deployment of the missiles in Taiwan will not take place for a couple of years because the arms sale has yet to receive the full endorsement of all relevant US government agencies.
In addition, under the sales agreement, Taiwan cannot take delivery of the missiles until China acquires a similar class of weapon.
According to some media reports, China will acquire R-77 air-to-air missiles, the Russian equivalent of the AIM-120, from Russia by year's end.
Taiwan's air force bought the AIM-120, also known as AMRAAM (advanced medium-range air-to-air missile), to maintain air superiority in the Taiwan Strait.
The only air-to-air missile which Taiwan has to deter China's air force is the domestically built TC-II missile, also known as "Sky Sword II," is deployed only on the locally developed Indigenous Defense Fighter (經國號).
"The AIM-120 is superior to both the TC-II and French-made Mica, which is used on the Mirage 2000-5. It's a good buy," said Erich Shih (施孝瑋), a senior editor with Defense International magazine.
"It has a shorter range than the TC-II, but its lighter, more powerful rocket thruster and more accurate homing electronics make it more desirable," Shih said. "It also has greater accuracy than the Mica."
Shih added that although the AIM-120 has yet to be proven in combat and has also been rejected by customers for unreliability during its initial stages of development, the missile is now fully developed and trustworthy.
The type of AIM-120 missile the US plans to sell to Taiwan is the AIM-120C.
The AIM-120C is a streamlined version of the missile, lighter and with smaller control surfaces than the original. It also has more advanced software capabilities
Although each missile costs about US$60,000 (NT$1,920,000), the actual price Taiwan pays could be higher, possibly due to a desire by the US that Taiwan share in the development cost of the weapon.
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