According to a account appear by the Taiwan Air Force, Maj. Kao Ting-cheng died during air-to-air action training if his fighter comatose in Yavapai County, arctic of Phoenix. He was a affiliate of Taiwan’s 455th (4th) Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW), 22nd Fighter Group (FG), at Chiayi Air Force Base in west-central Taiwan.The American Institute in Taiwan (the de facto US Embassy) in Taipei accustomed the blast and the afterlife of the pilot in a account absolution issued by its director, Kin Moy, on the aforementioned day.
On Tuesday, Defense Account will be accustomed admission to Chiayi AFB for a reside exercise of the Air Force’s accommodation during the accessible Chinese New Year, appointed for Feb. 7 to 13. The 455th will authenticate the F-16's adequacy in the accident of a abruptness advance by China.
Since Washington switched relations from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, China has pressured the United States to end all aggressive activities and accoutrements sales with Taiwan. Despite China’s best lobbying efforts, accoutrements sales, including training, accept connected to bank up the apprentice democracy.
Taiwan's 21st Tactical Fighter Squadron, "The Gamblers," has been training at Luke back 1997. Made up of 14 Block 20 F-16A/B fighter aircraft, the affairs is allotment of the Foreign Aggressive Sales affairs beneath the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
Taiwan acquired 150 F-16s in the aboriginal 1990s beneath the Peace Phoenix program. The F-16s accomplish up two TFWs, the 455 and 401 (Hualien AFB), absolute six FGs (21, 22, 23, and 17, 26, 27, respectively).
Taiwan’s F-16s are currently ability a midlife upgrade. In October 2012, Lockheed Martin was awarded a $1.85 billion arrangement by the US government for a above advancement of Taiwan’s actual 144 F-16 fighter aircraft. Then in December 2014, the US awarded a $308 actor arrangement to Lockheed Martin to accumulation the alive electronically scanned arrangement (AESA) alarm for the upgrade. The AESA alarm is the Northrop Grumman APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar.
Though Taiwan wants to annex F-35s as replacements for its crumbling fighter agile of Mirage-2000s, F-5s, and Indigenous Defense Fighters, the US appears afraid to absolution the avant-garde stealth fighter. Over the accomplished 10 years, the US followed a action of not enraging China by not absolution the F-16C/D Block 50/52 fighter and instead insisted that Taiwan’s Air Force advancement its accepted agile of F-16s.
Taiwan has a claim for vertical and/or abbreviate abandonment and landing (V/STOL) aircraft, which the F-35B would fulfill, but new fighters for Taiwan would already afresh cantankerous China’s red band spelled out if Taiwan attempted to annex new F-16C/Ds.
US government sources in Washington now advance that the V/STOL claim could be accomplished via either a hot alteration of the US Marine Corps subsonic AV-8 Harrier or refurbishing the earlier aircraft with new engines and avionics. Admitting China is accepted to accuse about such a sale, the accretion does not breach an declared affiance by the White House not to advertise new fighter aircraft to Taiwan.
The AV-8 is advised an air-to-ground abutment aircraft, admitting it can backpack air-to-air missiles. China’s 1,400 short-range ballistic missiles are accepted to abrade Taiwan’s air bases aural the aboriginal hours of any abeyant war, authoritative landing and ascent of accepted fighters, like the F-16s and Mirages, impossible. The AV-8 would acquiesce the Taiwan Air Force to adumbrate aircraft aural its asperous aerial interior. The Harrier would aswell be absolute for advancing amphibian ships alteration China’s aggression force beyond the Taiwan Strait.
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