Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱) yesterday promised to consider a proposal to mothball the Air Force’s Mirage fighter jets in light of their poor performance and high maintenance costs.
Kao said the Ministry of National Defense would carefully evaluate the issues involved, such as how to maintain the balance of combat capabilities across the Taiwan Strait, before making a decision on the matter.
In the meantime, the Air Force would work with the French manufacturer in an effort to fix problems with the turbine blades of the jet engines so as to upgrade the aircraft’s performance, he said.
The proposal to mothball the Mirage fighters was put forward by Chinese Nationalist Pary (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign and National Defense Committee.
Lin said a rupture of engine turbine blades on Mirage 2000 fighters in May resulted in a drop of average pilot flight hours to six hours in the month, only 40 percent of the minimum 15 hours required by the ministry.
Lin also pointed to the exorbitant costs involved in maintaining the Mirage fleet.
While the maintenance costs of the F-16 and the Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) are NT$160,000 and NT$250,000 per flight hour respectively, it costs NT$800,000 per flight hour to maintain the Mirage jets, he said.
In related news, and at the same meeting, Kao denied an Apple Daily report that an F-5E aircraft was almost shot down by an F-16 fighter in a recent aerial gunnery training exercise.
Kao told lawmakers that fire from the F-16 fighter only hit the cable on which the aerial gunnery target on the F-5E jet was attached. The F-5E was serving as a towing aircraft during the training exercise, he said.
He said when the cable was hit, the F-16 fighter was 610m away from the towing aircraft and it was untrue to say that the F-5E “was almost shot down.”
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of upcoming AI and technology events, saying he plans to meet with clients and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) during his visit. After landing at Taipei Songshan Airport, Huang posed for photos with fans and handed out Yakult drinks to reporters and supporters waiting at the scene, saying he has “a lot to do” during the trip. Asked about reports that Nvidia’s planned headquarters site in Taipei’s Beitou Shilin Technology Park could break ground on May 27, Huang said that if the company holds an event, he would
FUKUOKA SITUATION: Japanese media reported that the pathogen is expected to be identified by the summer, while the CDC downplayed the idea that it was hMPV A “mysterious cold-like illness” reported in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture does not seem to be a new disease, but Japanese authorities have been asked about the situation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The Fukuoka Prefectural Medical Association on Wednesday told a news conference that a “mystery cold” that has become a hot topic on social media is “highly likely to be caused by some kind of viral infection,” Japan’s KBC News reported. “Many people are experiencing symptoms starting with a sore throat, followed by a runny nose, phlegm and a severe cough,” KBC News reported, citing association officials. Health authorities are
Carrefour Taiwan is to begin using a new name from the start of July, but it cannot divulge the name until then, the chairman of the supermarket chain's parent company said today. President Chain Store Co chairman Lo Chih-hsien (羅智先) was asked by reporters after a shareholders' meeting to confirm whether the company has settled on a new name for the supermarket brand. In March, the government-registered name of two Carrefour Taiwan branches was quietly changed to "Le Chia Kang" (樂家康) in Chinese, raising speculation that has been selected as the name. Lo said that because of local regulations and contractual obligations, the
RSS