Taiwan to lease AV-8B fighters from US, US-China antagonism heats up, Tang, Wolfowitz meet

AFP; Japan Economic Newswire | 3-11-02; 3-12-02

[tallhappy]

Very positive developments.

[vannrox]

Take that Clinton.!!!!

You may remember that Clinton stopped the sale of these aircrat to Taiwan early on in his first term.

[tallhappy]

I wasn't aware of that.

[Free the USA]

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[borghead]

How exactly will vtol aircraft help taiwan's defense? Harriers are short range ground support and interdiction aircraft, not air superiority fighters, they would be slapped out the sky by the Chinese su-27s and j-10s.

[tallhappy]

China's not going to attack Taiwan and there is not going to be a war between Taiwan and China.

But there very well may be military action in Philippines, Malaysia or Indonesia regions concerning Al Qaeda related factions.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

How exactly will vtol aircraft help taiwan's defense? Harriers are short range ground support and interdiction aircraft, not air superiority fighters, they would be slapped out the sky by the Chinese su-27s and j-10s.

Harriers are V/STOL aircraft. They have the ability to make a normal, albeit short, take off roll. There are a number of Argentinian pilots, 20 confirmed and 3 probable, who can personally attest to the Harrier's capabilities as a dogfighter. It's ability to VIFF, vector in forward flight, gives it an agility matched by few fighters. History has shown that most dogfighting occurs at Mach 0.8 and below.

British Harriers can carry the AMRAAM and ASRAAM in addition to the Sidewinder. Marine Corps Harriers can carry the Sidewinder and some have been upgraded to carry the APG-65. Depending on what version they lease, the Taiwanese could have a very capable fighter.

[borghead]

I'm not saying that China will attack taiwan just that if they do, then these fighters are more or less worthless against the chinese J-10s and J-11s.

[Enemy Of The State]

BUMP!!

"The paper said Boeing Co. is helping arrange the proposed arms deal "

You better sell your Boeing stock if you have any because you can bet your bones they are gonna pay a big penalty on the mainland.

[Enemy Of The State]

"I'm not saying that China will attack taiwan just that if they do, then these fighters are more or less worthless against the chinese J-10s and J-11s."

You have to remember, the Chicoms are flying ancient soviet era aircraft, they really dont have anything thats modern as to where Taiwan is using the latest US state of the art equipment. Not to mention that the Chicoms dont have squat for flight experience. The only thing China has going for it are the numbers, 1.however many billion of them there are now.

[tallhappy]

You better sell your Boeing stock if you have any because you can bet your bones they are gonna pay a big penalty on the mainland.

You are right that that is a big surprise.

But, I figure Boeing must know something or they wouldn't have touched it with a ten foot pole.

[Enemy Of The State]

"How exactly will vtol aircraft help taiwan's defense? Harriers are short range ground support and interdiction aircraft, not air superiority fighters, they would be slapped out the sky by the Chinese su-27s and j-10s"

Because China will tip off an attack by missile first in order to eliminate airports and runways. Harriers do not require runways since they have verticle takeoff ability. Once airborne the harriers can provide defense until jet fighters are capable of launching.

[borghead]

dude, have you seen the performance of harriers against F-15s and F16s, they suck against modern fighter aircraft, now against a mig-21 the harrier will likely win, but face it the vstol aircraft wasn't designed with an air-superiority role in mind, its built for ground or naval interdiction.

[piasa]

they would be slapped out the sky by the Chinese su-27s and j-10s.

Not the way mainland Chinese fly... remember how Beijing claims our EP-3 rammed Wong Wei's fighter? ROTFLMAO! Beijing should be grateful we didn't sell Taiwan something with propellers.

[piasa]

Or more likely be used to hit Chinese surface vessels and other targets of interest.

[Enemy Of The State]

"dude, have you seen the performance of harriers against F-15s and F16s, they suck against modern fighter aircraft, now against a mig-21 the harrier will likely win, but face it the vstol aircraft wasn't designed with an air-superiority role in mind, its built for ground or naval interdiction"

yes, and the CHinese dont have F15's or F16's. hell they intercepted our P3 with an F8. We are talking Vietnam era here. The Taiwanese however do have F16's. Not to mention American Backing.

[borghead]

They don't have F16s but they do have Su-27s and Su-30s, and also J-10s which are F16 equivalents, moreover I thought the whole point of the lease is if the chinese launch a missle barrage to take out taiwan's airfields so that its F16s would be useless, in any case, Tawian doesn't have the missles to strike china, so what is your point?

[Enemy Of The State]

Tawian doesn't have the missles to strike china, so what is your point?

they dont need to, the US does!

[Enemy Of The State]

You might want to check your facts ont that one bonehead...China does not have long range bombers..

[borghead]

and how is that relevent to the discussion at hand?