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.”
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
Democratic Progressive Party caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu, front, grabs the pennant in a dragon boat race hosted by Qu Yuan Temple in the Shuanghsi River in Taipei’s Beitou District yesterday.
RSS