The air force is preparing to test two upgraded versions of its locally developed fighter aimed at increasing the plane's range and firepower, the authoritative Jane's Defense Weekly said.
The two prototypes, being produced by the Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC), are an improved version of the Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF), the weekly said in an article to be published on Wednesday.
It said both the range and weaponry of the plane were intentionally limited under the US technology-transfer program that was crucial to the IDF's development in the 1980s.
Prototypes
"We are preparing for ground tests. We have only manufactured two prototypes. If everything goes well we can put it into production after the air force approves the prototypes," Sun Tao-yu (
The upgrade allows the IDF to carry an additional 771kg of fuel and includes an improved avionics suite, retrofitted electronic-warfare capabilities and new weapon systems.
The landing gear has been strengthened to accommodate the added fuel and payload, but a plan to include dielectric radar-absorbing properties for a "stealth" fuselage was dropped due to concerns over weight.
The three-phase program was launched in 2001 and recently saw completion of its second phase.
More missiles
The first phase involved increasing the number of Tien Chien 2 (Sky Sword 2) air-to-air missiles from two to four, as well as integrating the new Tien Chien 2A anti-radiation missile and the new Wan Chien (Ten Thousand Swords) cluster bomb.
The second phase involved the upgrading of mission computers; electronic countermeasures; electronic warfare systems; an advanced "identification friend or foe" system and terrain-following and radar improvements.
Phase three will involve ground and air testing, with service entry scheduled for 2010 if the program is approved.
AIDC produced 130 IDFs during the 1980s to replace the nation's ageing Lockheed F-104 Starfighters and Northrop F-5 Tigers.
A small number of Taiwanese this year lost their citizenship rights after traveling in China and obtaining a one-time Chinese passport to cross the border into Russia, a source said today. The people signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of neighboring Russia with companies claiming they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, the source said on condition of anonymity. The travelers were actually issued one-time-use Chinese passports, they said. Taiwanese are prohibited from holding a Chinese passport or household registration. If found to have a Chinese ID, they may lose their resident status under Article 9-1
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
PROBLEMATIC APP: Citing more than 1,000 fraud cases, the government is taking the app down for a year, but opposition voices are calling it censorship Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday decried a government plan to suspend access to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu (小紅書) for one year as censorship, while the Presidential Office backed the plan. The Ministry of the Interior on Thursday cited security risks and accusations that the Instagram-like app, known as Rednote in English, had figured in more than 1,700 fraud cases since last year. The company, which has about 3 million users in Taiwan, has not yet responded to requests for comment. “Many people online are already asking ‘How to climb over the firewall to access Xiaohongshu,’” Cheng posted on
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