Air force says it will introduce new strategies

The air force is to introduce new combat tactics next year into the regular training of fighter pilots in an attempt to reach the strategic goal of "offshore denial of enemy aircraft," the air force announced yesterday.

The new combat tactics are associated with the adoption of different types of beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles, and the combined use of new-generation fighter planes for multi-sortie and multi-directional air defense mission flights.

"All these are aimed at gaining air superiority in the Taiwan Strait. Over the next year, we hope to realize in this manner the service's ultimate goal of `offshore denial of enemy aircraft,'" said Major General Chou Meng-bai (周夢白). "We will also seek to provide the greatest assistance to the army and navy for them to achieve their goals of `consolidated defense.'"

Chou, chief of the planning department of the air force general headquarters, made the announcement yesterday at a regular press conference of the Ministry of National Defense (MND) as part of his briefing about the air force's combat preparation plans for next year.

The apparently new term, "offshore denial of enemy aircraft" was seized upon by media, who speculated as to whether it was a disguised reference to "offshore engagement with the enemy."

The offshore engagement idea was first raised by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) during his presidential election campaign. It is widely believed that this principle has become a central pillar of Taiwan's defense strategy, though it has faced strong opposition from opposition lawmakers and conservative scholars.

Offshore engagement strategy is based on the engagement, most likely of Chinese airplanes, over the Taiwan Strait before the enemy can conduct bombing raids on targets in Taiwan.

The armed forces have now come up with alternative names for the controversial "offshore engagement" slogan, with the air force using the term "offshore denial of enemy aircraft" and the MND coining the term "source strike."

"Source strike" appears in the Executive Yuan's newly approved mid-term administrative project proposals for 2001 to 2004, in which the MND specifies its future tasks as focusing on developing joint-operation and source strike capabilities, a defense official said, who declined to be identified.

The term carries strong implications of revenge attacks to be carried out over enemy territory, since "source" refers specifically to the origin of the enemy's combat power, the official said.

In addition to the development of offshore operation capabilities, Major General Chou said, the air force also seeks to maintain its air superiority over the enemy in the years ahead by developing or purchasing a next-generation fighter plane.

"The next-generation fighter plane is to have stealth capabilities and be capable of taking off or landing at short distance or vertically. It will also to be able to engage multiple enemy targets at the same time from a stand-off distance," Chou said.

Chou declined to reveal what stage of development the next-generation fighter plane had reached, but sources said it is very likely that the air force is to buy the AV-8B or the Joint Services Fighter from the US. The Joint Services Fighter is still under development, with a variety of versions to answer different combat needs.