Pentagon Report Underscores Urgent Need for More Taiwan Arms

Dean Cheng / February 27, 2010

With the public release of a US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) report on Taiwan’s air power, there is now a public US government assessment of Taiwan’s ability to fend off Chinese attack. And while the report does not directly state how well Taiwan would do against the PLA, there is little reason for optimism under current conditions. Three of the four aircraft in the Taiwan air force inventory are problematic: its F-5s are reaching the end of their operational life; the Ching-Kuo Indigenous Defense Fighter has limited ability to sustain high sortie rates; while the operations and maintenance costs of the Mirage-2000 are so high as to affect operational readiness.

In this light, Taiwan’s standing request for 66 additional American-built F-16s to supplement current defensive capabilities is more urgent than ever. So far, both the Bush and Obama administrations have withheld them from Taiwan. (more…)