An exclusive report published on Tuesday in the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) was headlined: “Air force to upgrade existing UH-60M Black Hawk search-and-rescue helicopters.”
The air force’s fleet of Black Hawks has a complex history, and the saga surrounding their upgrade shows a wider problem with its helicopter fleet.
The air force did not independently purchase the helicopters. They were transferred from the army, and as a result lacked forward-looking infrared sensors and other equipment, rendering them unable to conduct nighttime maritime search-and-rescue missions.
To rectify the issue, the Ministry of National Defense planned to begin modifying five Black Hawks two years ago, seeking to complete the work by next year. The aim was to install a forward-looking infrared pod, a target positioning system, weather radar, auxiliary searchlights, a satellite communications link, and a search-and-rescue direction finder, among other equipment.
The air force set aside NT$1.96 billion (US$67.81 million at the current exchange rate) for the project.
However, the quotation provided by US defense contractor Sikorsky was much higher than anticipated. Sikorsky proposed two options: modifications to the helicopters’ airframes or the delivery of new Black Hawks. The air force produced an evaluation report to the ministry, and air force commanders trusted that government officials would arrive at a sensible decision.
In addition to upgrading the Black Hawks, there is also a pressing need to replace the army’s Bell AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters.
The first batch of 42 Super Cobras was purchased in 1992, with delivery beginning the following year, which means that they have been in service for nearly 30 years. In 1997, the army took delivery of a second batch of 21 Super Cobras.
The army’s continued operation of Super Cobras is fast becoming a liability. This is because other nations are gradually phasing out the model from service. The US Navy — previously the model’s largest operator — decommissioned its last Super Cobra in October 2020, replacing them with Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters.
Once the second-largest operator of the Super Cobra, Turkey has only nine of them remaining in service. This means that Taiwan’s military is suddenly the world’s single largest operator of the model, and within six months it might be its sole operator.
In 2019, the ministry set aside NT$1.5 billion for emergency funding and hastily signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Bell to supply spare parts for the helicopters — the contract expires at the end of June. This raises the prospect that the supply of spare parts for the army’s Super Cobras will dry up.
After the US military decommissioned a large number of its Bell OH-58 Kiowa helicopters in 2016, Bell ceased production of spare parts and components for the helicopter the following year. Within the next three years, three accidents had occurred with Taiwan’s Kiowa helicopters. Given the difficulty all three branches of the military have in training helicopter pilots, it cannot afford to be losing experienced pilots in avoidable accidents.
With the army currently operating the world’s largest fleet of Super Cobras, and with no plan for capability upgrades in the works, the Super Cobras and the Kiowas are entering the end of their working lives.
Ministry officials must carefully consider the next phase of its force integration planning to ensure that the military is able to maintain the helicopter fleet’s availability at the required level.
Chang Feng-lin is a university administrator.
Translated by Edward Jones
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