The air force will soon take delivery of US-made AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles to counter a similar Russian-made weapon that China test-fired successfully last week for the first time, defense officials said yesterday.
"We're ready for delivery of the AIM-120 missile," Major General Peng Chin-ming (彭進明), director of the air force's operations bureau, said yesterday. "The missile will be carried by the F-16 jet fighter."
Peng made the announcement yesterday at a regular press conference of the Ministry of National Defense. He was responding to inquiries over whether China's recent test-firing of its AA-12 missile, called R-77 in Russia, will speed up the delivery of the AIM-120 from the US.
China's first-ever test of the AA-12 was reported by the Washington Times on Monday. The article quoted anonymous US defense sources.
In China's test last week, an unidentified number of AA-12s were fired from two Su-30 fighter planes and successfully hit target drones, the report said.
"We have all the information about the test-firing," Peng said while confirming the report. But he declined to say more about the test.
Peng said the air force is already in possession of two kinds of medium-range air-to-air missiles that are superior to the AA-12 in range and speed.
They are the domestically built Tien Chien-II, which is carried by the IDF fighter, and the French-made MICA, which is for use with the Mirage 2000-5 fighter.
"The Tien Chien-II has a maximum range of 60km and a maximum speed of Mach four, while China's AA-12 has a shorter maximum range of 50km and a slower maximum speed of Mach three," Peng said.
"The MICA has the same maximum range as the AA-12, but has a greater maximum speed of Mach 3.5," he said.
Peng compared only the speed and range of the three missiles because they fall into the same category of active radar-homing and fire-and-forget air-to-air missiles.
The AIM-120 is another missile of the same kind, which the air force has ordered but has yet to take delivery of from the US.
The air force ordered 200 of the missiles in 2000. Defense officials said the US approved the deal under one condition: The AIM-120s must be stored in the US but will be delivered to Taiwan if China acquires a similar weapon system, such as the AA-12.
Now that China has tested the AA-12, delivery of the AIM-120s is expected soon.
A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said delivery is expected soon since the air force has completed preparations for the storage and operation of the advanced missiles.
Meanwhile, China did not respond yesterday to reports of the missile test.
China's Defense Ministry referred calls to the Foreign Ministry, where a spokeswoman would not confirm the report.
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