Taiwanese air force pilots came very close this year to participating for the first time in a highly realistic and high-intensity combat training exercise in the US, but a last-minute decision by Washington prevented them from doing so over fears of Beijing’s reaction, a defense magazine reports in its current issue.
According to the Chinese-language Asia-Pacific Defense Magazine, Taiwanese F-16 pilots were invited to participate in the RED FLAG 12-4 combat exercise held in July, but after a “careful assessment” by senior White House officials, the US side canceled the invitation over fears of China’s reaction and a potential impact on bilateral ties.
Held at the Nevada Test and Training Range north of Las Vegas, the RED FLAG combat training exercise, which has been held since 1975, involves air forces from the US and its allies.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
The drills are orchestrated by the US 414th Combat Training Squadron and include as many as 1,900 possible targets, realistic threat systems and an opposing “enemy force” that “cannot be replicated anywhere else in the world,” Nellis Air Force Base says on its Web site.
The exercise involves command, control, intelligence and electronic warfare, as well as night missions, and all four branches of the US military take part.
A typical RED FLAG exercise includes fighter, bomber, air superiority, reconnaissance, electronic warfare as well as airlift aircraft.
Over the years, a number of US allies, including South Korea, Singapore, Sweden, the UK, Colombia and Saudi Arabia, have taken part, but Taiwan has yet to join.
Taiwanese officials based in the US have been seeking to increase the level of cooperation between their countries’ armed forces and their efforts were reportedly behind the decision to invite Taiwan to participate in this year’s exercise.
The air force has long hopes its F-16 pilots, who have been receiving training at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona since the 1990s, when Taiwan purchased 146 F-16A/Bs from the US, could participate in RED FLAG to test their skills, learn joint concepts and gain precious operational experience.
Despite longstanding defense ties between Taiwan and the US, Beijing strongly opposes joint training between the Taiwanese military and the US or its regional allies. Nevertheless, US military officers often participate as observers during military exercises held in Taiwan.
Citing unnamed insiders, the report said that despite the setback, both sides would continue to work together to secure Taiwan’s participation, adding that the agencies involved were confident that Taiwanese pilots would eventually be able to take part.
To compensate for the absence of Taiwanese pilots, the first Tien Lung exercise was held in Hualien and Taidong from Nov. 10 through Nov. 16, which mirrored the routines performed during RED FLAG, including a “training acceptance test” carried out by all the major fighter wings.
The test required all participating wings to draw lots to decide their simulated enemies before conducting various air combat drills, including day or night target intercepts, joint air-defense operations, air-to-ground and air-sea skills against possible tactics employed by the People’s Liberation Army.
These wings worked in coordination with combat control teams, including ground radar stations and E2K Hawkeye 2000, and air defense units.
In related news, the US Department of Defense announced on Friday that US-based defense contractor Raytheon Corp on Friday had been awarded a US$289,458,942 contract for Taiwan’s Surveillance Radar Program (SRP), in a contract that is expected to be completed by Nov. 8, 2017.
Key to Taiwan’s SRP is the US$1 billion-plus long-range early-warning radar that is being built at Leshan (樂山) in Hsinchu County and which is expected to become operational before the end of this year.
The program drew criticism by some legislators earlier this year after Raytheon requested an additional NT$4 billion (US$137.6 million) for further research-and-development and other associated costs.
Once it becomes operational, the radar — deemed the most powerful on the face of the planet — will give Taiwan an extra 6-minute warning against incoming Chinese missiles.
Additional reporting by Stacy Hsu
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
RSS