Air force costs have increased 40 percent since 2016, due to an increasing number of intrusions into the nation’s air space by Chinese military aircraft, the Ministry of National Defense’s annual budget report showed.
Maintenance and procurement costs have increased from NT$18.7 billion (US$648.6 million at the current exchange rate) in 2016 to NT$26.6 billion in the most recent budget, the report showed.
As of Sunday, there had been 310 individual intrusions by Chinese aircraft into the southwestern section of the nation’s airspace, as well as four separate occasions when Chinese aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said.
Speaking at the legislature last month, Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) said that 49 Chinese aircraft had crossed the median line this year.
That was the greatest number of Chinese aircraft that had crossed the median line in any year since 1990, he said.
Chinese military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait has increased significantly since October 2016, following President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) inauguration in May that year, ministry data showed.
In its annual budget report submitted in 2016, the ministry called for just more than NT$9.49 billion for maintenance costs, and just more than NT$9.2 billion for the procurement and manufacture of various equipment, adding up to a total of about NT$18.7 billion.
In its budget for next year, the ministry has asked for more than NT$15.98 billion for maintenance costs, and more than NT$10.61 billion for equipment procurement and manufacture, adding up to a total of NT$26.6 billion.
Part of the increase is related to the purchase and manufacture of upgraded systems, such as new F-16V radar systems and anti-aircraft missiles, the report said.
Air Force Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Huang Chih-wei (黃志偉) last week said that the maintenance roster is planned two years in advance and that unexpected incidents — such as an increase in Chinese incursions — drove up expenditure and accounted for the increased funding requested for the next fiscal year.
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