The Ministry of National Defense yesterday rejected a report that the US has proposed lending the Taiwanese air force Boeing F-15C/D Eagle warplanes, upgraded to the 2040C Eagle specification, as an interim air superiority fighter.
There were no proposals from the US to lend Taiwan such fighters, ministry spokesman Major General Chen Chung-chi (陳中吉) said, calling the report “pure speculation by the media.”
On Monday, Chinese-language online news outlet Up Media, citing an unnamed source, reported that US officials had expressed an interest in giving Taiwan refitted decommissioned F-15s.
The ministry has decided against asking the US for the Lockheed Martin F-35B, the short takeoff and vertical landing variant of the advanced stealth fighter, in favor of other options that might fill the air force’s high-altitude fighter gap, the report said.
The air force’s main high-altitude interceptor, the Dassault Mirage 2000, is aging and increasingly difficult to service, it added.
Taiwanese officials have specifically named the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet or the F-15 2040C, a proposed upgrade to the F-15C/D, as the preferred replacements, the report said.
Up Media quoted the source as saying that due to costs and diplomatic concerns, US officials have said that Washington might lend out, instead of selling, decommissioned F-15s upgraded to the 2040C specification.
US officials believe that giving Taiwan refurbished F-15s without auxiliary fuel tanks might allay China’s fears about Taipei having an advanced, long-range multi-role fighter, the source added.
There is precedent for the proposal, as Taiwan has received military equipment from the US via loans, including Northrop T-38 Talon jet trainers and Knox-class frigates, the report said.
The 2040C variant is designed to carry up to 16 air-to-air missiles, climb at 15,240m per minute and take off and land on relatively short runways.
The jets reportedly destined for Taiwan would have a mid-life upgrade package and avionics equivalent to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s Mitsubishi F-15J, the report said.
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS