On Thursday last week, the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported that Air Force Commander General Hsiung Hou-chi (熊厚基) took part in a videoconference on military affairs in the Indo-Pacific region, citing the Indian Air Force’s Facebook page. This is encouraging news.
Indian Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari and air force commanders in the region met online to discuss the challenges of distributed logistics and combat deployment while operating in austere locations.
Political and academic circles in India have been paying attention to the situation in the Taiwan Strait, and related issues are often covered in the Indian media. For example, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa’s supportive remarks about Taiwan were made in an Indian interview.
INDIA’s PROGRAMS
Taiwan and India have French-made Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets and see China as their main enemy, so the two nations have shared interests to discuss in exchanges.
Coincidentally, they are also developing next-generation air forces.
The Indian Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) program is developing a fifth-generation fighter jet for the country’s air force and navy. The AMCA is to be a twin-engine, all-weather and multi-functional stealth fighter jet.
When the program was launched, the aim was to have the fighter jet outperform the Mirage 2000 series. The Indian government allocated US$2 billion to the program for research and development, while private enterprises gave US$350 million in the initial stages.
In 2020, the AMCA was to undergo wind tunnel testing. India signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia to gain the technology for 3D thrust vectoring and active electronically scanned array antennas.
India is also working with UK-based Rolls-Royce to develop a new engine based on the Eurojet EJ200, a turbofan engine used in the Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighter.
WORKING TOGETHER
If Taiwan could collaborate with India on next-generation indigenous fighter jet programs, it would be easier to obtain mature, stable technology from the international spot market.
To block Chinese expansion in the South China Sea, India helped the Philippines to set up three battalions outfitted with BrahMos ground-launched cruise missiles, while providing the Philippines with low-interest loans.
The US agreed to sell Taiwan the basic version of the Harpoon missile, which has a range of 148km and a speed of Mach 0.85 (1049.58kph), but India offered the Philippines a supersonic version with a range of 300km and a speed of Mach 3. India seems to be more generous than the US.
IN WITH A CHANCE
People often say that no one dares to sell weapons to Taiwan due to Chinese pressure, but that excuse does not stand up to the principle of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Thanks to the government’s efforts over the past few years, Taiwan has found friendly countries in Europe, such as Lithuania and the Czech Republic.
It is heartening to see that Taiwan is now engaged in Indo-Pacific cooperation. Hopefully, it can enhance relations for deeper collaboration with India so that the two nations can fight back against the bully China together.
Chang Feng-lin is a university lecturer.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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