The Chinese military is to inaugurate next fall ten squadrons of modern fighter planes in regions facing Taiwan, a build-up likely to affect the balance of air power in the Taiwan Strait, a local Internet-based news service said yesterday.
The 10 squadrons are to include four squadrons of Russian-made Su-27 jet fighters, four squadrons of Chinese-built Jian-8 fighter planes and two squadrons of Hung-7 bombers, according to the Ettoday news service.
These planes are to be deployed at bases in the Nanjing military region, within a range of 500km from Taiwan, it said. At the moment, fighter planes operational in the region are mainly outdated Jian-6 planes.
It is the first time in 15 years that the Chinese air force has made a significant build-up with a clear intention to bring Taiwan under its air assault range, the report said.
A defense official, who declined to be identified, said it is too early to predict a possible shift in the balance of air power in the Taiwan Strait due to the introduction of the ten squadrons of fighter planes by the Chinese air force.
"But it does need to be noted that Taiwan's air force, in the future, will no longer be facing outdated Jian-6s, but the much more advanced Su-27s and Jian-8s," the official said.
"Sooner or later the Chinese air force will have a large force of Su-27s. The Chinese have begun their licensed production of the advanced Russian-made planes, but they have yet to establish a mass production line for the planes," he said.
The first Su-27 license-built planes by the Chinese were completed last year, with around 10 to 20 of the planes to be churned out annually over the next few years, he said. Shih Hsiao-wei (施孝瑋), an editor of Defense International magazine, said there is nothing threatening about China's plan to commission ten squadrons of new fighter planes across the Taiwan Strait.
"It is just part of the modernization efforts of the Chinese air force. The Chinese air force is still relatively weak. Generally speaking, it will not be able to pose a real threat to Taiwan in the coming few years," Shih said.
Chang Li-teh (
"The ten squadrons to be inaugurated next fall will not mean much in terms of quantity. As to the threat posed by each type of plane, only the Hung-7 bombers are worth worrying about from a long-term perspective," Chang said.
"Evidence shows the Hung-7 bombers are likely to be transferred from the navy to the air force. If that is the case, the Chinese air force will acquire the ability to attack Taiwanese targets, either at sea or on land, from all directions with anti-ship or cruise missiles," he said.
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