Taiwan has taken delivery of 200 US AIM-120 missiles to boost defenses against China, a Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday.
"The AIM-120 missiles are stored at the Hualien airbase in eastern Taiwan and at the Chiayi airbase in southwestern Taiwan. The missile made its debut at the Hualien airbase on Tuesday when two F-16 jets, each fitted with two AIM-120s, conducted a training flight over the Pacific Ocean," the paper said.
The paper printed a photo of an F-16 fitted with two AIM-120s and a photo of an AIM-120 missile.
Taiwan asked to buy AIM-120 missiles for installation on the Air Force's 150 F-16s to counter a threat posed by China's Sukhoi-30 warplanes, which carry Russian AA-12 missiles.
Like the AA-12, the AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles are active-radar-guided, with a maximum range of 50km.
The US approved the sale of 200 AIM-120 missiles to Taiwan in 2000. To avoid angering China, Washington decided it would not deliver the missiles until Taiwan faced a military threat.
"After the Chinese Air Force test-fired AA-12 missiles in June last year, the US agreed to deliver the AIM-120 missiles to Taiwan," the paper said.
Taiwanese airmen test-fired the AIM-120 missiles in the US at the end of last year, it said.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
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