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Taiwan's fighter jets too costly to maintain By Andrei Chang Column: Military Might Hong Kong, China — The United Arab Emirates Air Force is considering selling the Mirage 2000-9 jet fighters that it originally purchased from France, according to a UAE representative at the Dubai Air Show last November. The main reason, he said, was high maintenance costs. The author asked a high-level officer from the Taiwanese Air Force the maintenance cost of the Mirage 2000-5 in Taiwan. The senior air force officer said, “There have been no problems, and Mirage 2000-5 fighters are in very good combat readiness in...

Taiwan shelves 9 Mirage jets due to lack of spare parts Asia-Pacific News Taipei The Taiwan Air Force has shelved nine Mirage 2000-5 jets due to a lack of spare parts supplied by France, a newspaper report said Sunday. The China Times quoted an unnamed Air Force official as saying that the jets had been mothballed with assistance from France. The planes had undergone tests so that they could be reactivated, even for combat missions, he said. The delivery of pare parts could resume by the year-end, the official said. The China Times report comes one month after lawmaker Lin...

Defense ministry to consider proposal to mothball Mirage fighters Central News Agency 2009-10-22 06:34 PM Taipei, Oct. 22 (CNA) Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu promised Thursday to consider a proposal to mothball the Air Force's Mirage fighter jets in light of their low performance and high maintenance costs. Kao said the Ministry of National Defense (MND) will carefully evaluate issues 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 will work with the French manufacturer in an effort to fix the...

Markus Junianto Sihaloho Defense Says ‘Thanks, but No Thanks’ to Qatari Jets The government has turned down a grant offer of 10 Mirage 2000 jet fighters from the Qatari government due to a lack of funds for maintenance, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said on Thursday. Juwono said Qatar offered the jets six months ago through Indonesia’s ambassador in Doha. The government needed only to send a letter requesting the aircraft. “I have not sent a letter,” Juwono said. “But had I sent one, I would have told them that our state budget is focused on infrastructure and improving the people’s...

France fills in F-15's role in Afghanistan after crash www.chinaview.cn 2007-11-07 WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- With U.S. F-15 fighters ordered to stand by in Afghanistan, French fighters are providing close-air support for U.S. troops and their allies there, the Military Times reported Wednesday. Since a Nov. 2 crash of a F-15C Eagle in Missouri, the U.S. AirForce has restricted flights of F-15Es and F-15Cs to "mission-critical" sorties only. In Afghanistan, where F-15Es take off from Bagram Air Base, the restriction means that F-15Es sit on combat alert status but are not assigned to pre-planned or on-call missions. In the...

Visiting pilots get taste of battle U.S. Navy Prowlers, French Mirage 2000s are among combatants in 2-week exercise By DON HUNTER Anchorage Daily News Published: April 9, 2007 Last Modified: April 9, 2007 at 12:12 AM Listen up, bird-watchers. If you happen to see a dark gray jet take flight on the north side over the next couple weeks, and it looks, well, maybe a little more bumblebee than wasp, don't worry. Your eyes are OK. That's a U.S. Navy Prowler, not a U.S. Air Force F-15. Starting today, Alaska is playing home base to Red Flag, a big air-combat...

IAF mulls purchase of French Mirage fighters NEW DELHI, OCT 5 (PTI) The Indian Air Force is exploring purchase of French Mirage fighters to maintain an effective airpower strength as an interim measure in the wake of delays in finalising the contract for buying 126 multi-role Combat Aircraft. "We are in negotiations with France for supply of some number of Mirage-2000-5," Air Chief SP Tyagi told newsmen here. Negotiations had also been revived with Qatar for purchase of 12 Mirage fighters, he said. IAF is taking these emergency measures in the wake of reports that its fighting squardon strength has...

Can’t hit India? No use for Pak - Islamabad shy of F-16 minus Mirage-buster IMTIAZ GUL Islamabad, Sept. 11: Pakistan’s long-delayed F-16 purchase from the US has stalled again just before the two sides were to ink the deal as Islamabad has realised that the jets would be useless in combat with the Indian Mirage 2000. Pakistan was to sign what is called a letter of acceptance with the US to buy at least 18 new F-16 multi-role combat aircraft. But Pakistan Air Force (PAF) officials informed General Pervez Musharraf a week ago that the aircraft did not have the...

<p>New Delhi: The dogfight for bagging the Indian order for 126 fighter aircraft has taken a sensational twist. The front-runner, the French Mirage 2000, has pulled out, complaining that India is taking too much time to make up its mind.</p>

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - The Bush administration is expected to dramatically shift U.S. policy toward nuclear rivals India and Pakistan by approving F-16 fighter plane sales for each, industry officials said Friday. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit both nations next week as part of a six-country Asian tour and may confirm the sea change in U.S. arms sale policy during her visits, said an industry official who spoke on condition of anonymity. India, which since the 1960s has refused to buy U.S. arms because of periodic sanctions that interrupted supplies, is soliciting bids for a purchase of 126...

PTI PRINT EMAIL IAF 'F-16 in race to sell aircraft to IAF' BANGALORE, NOV 17 (PTI) America's F-16 aircraft will be in the race for India's new plan to acquire 125 supersonic fighters, a top IAF official said today. The Indian Air Force will insist on a technology transfer by aircraft manufacturers, including parting with the source code for avionics, Vice Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal S K Malik told reporters here on the sidelines of the 45th annual conference of the Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine. "We have not shortlisted any aircraft nor discounted any," Malik said. "We...