Taiwan's Reaction to PLA Force Modernization

actually, the info regarding the SRBM's CEP is from a Taiwanense defence magazine, i will find the article later. but speaking of minelet, the same magazine did mention the PLA is developing such warheads for airfields.

crobato said:

Taiwan's air force has been resting on his laurels, even capital investment, a lack of legitimacy. According to informed sources, the Taiwan Air Force F-16 fighters are used as missiles are bluffing. Taiwan has never conducted a missile firing exercises, because the cost is too high, the military can not afford them.

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The part about "never conducted a missile firing exercise" is prolly incorrect. They do shoot some missiles in tests, training, and demonstrations/exercises once in a while. Back in 2003 the ROCAF was going to fire a couple of MICA's during Hankuang Exercise but actually called them off because they detected "spy ships" from PRC and Japan nearby to collect electronic data, LoL.



Before the delivery of the AIM-120s, the air force had sent two F-16 pilots to the US to test the missile.

The first of the two tests took place last October at a US base in Guam. The second test took place early this year at an air base in Arizona, where combat pilots from Taiwan are stationed to take F-16 flight training.

In the second test, the air force sent a total of eight pilots to test-fire AIM-120s from Taiwan-owned F-16s that are kept at the Arizona air base for training purposes.

Prior to the second test, the US had sent Taiwan an unidentified number of simulators for the AIM-120 to get F-16 pilots here familiar with the procedure for operating the state-of-the-art weapon.

I picked some stuff, commenting on a recent KANWA article. Note it implies presence and build up of J-10s now in the China northeast.



Google translated.

Han : PLA Air Force to change Taiwan's strategic air superiority over the Taiwan Strait being grabbed and Han ------------ : China stressed that the deployment of Air Force air supremacy over the Taiwan Strait [Sing Tao Chinese mainland network following the official release -- F-10 combat Northwest planes already in the news service base, adjusting the deployment of the PLA Air Force has aroused widespread concern. The analysis said that the PLA Air snatch air supremacy over the Taiwan Strait to Taiwan's strategic positive change. Canada, "Kanwa Defense Review" that PLA Air Force before being deployed in the three forward lines of combat division to the second line, Some former United Theater Taiwan has entered the operational deployment of the first line, North China Air Force is changing the direction in which the Cold War's "strategic reserve" role Taiwan plans to gradually layout at the front. Instead, the air force deployed Northwest army operations against Taiwan will become a "strategic reserve force." The article claimed that the People's Liberation Army Air Force in the adjustment process, reflect the following three points : First, Taiwan is the PLA's efforts to strengthen the South East region is still the primary air theater. -2000 The air, the air -200. Yun-8 and other high-performance aircraft and electronic reconnaissance planes deployed in the region so that There Soviet military equipment arriving here first, the Su-30MKK fighter unit. The article also said that the Chinese mainland has 29 frontline Northeast airport maintenance hangar project. In addition, the latest developments in the region suggest that the PLA is also equipped with F--10B began. Thus, in the southeast region of the People's Liberation Army air force, equipped with the best military aircraft, training for front-line combat. Second, the importance of the Air Force in South China and North China's rapid rise. The article says that the PLA Air Force in the construction of a huge surface-to-air missile positions in southern China, , along with the Su-30MKK fighter-bombers attack capability amazing. The analysis said that the PLA will be the Su-30MKK only deployed in the southeast and south China regions, we can see the target. Besides, the PLA has upgraded the Air Force stationed in North China's important position be regarded as interference in the situation in the Taiwan Strait to prevent the United States, Japan, the main combat unit in the Air Force. Thirdly, the PLA began to be deployed in the northwest region of the Air Force as a strategic reserve force. In view of Taiwan's combat reserve needs The mainland region of the People's Liberation Army Air Force will upgrade the F-10 series of fighter independent production, In addition to the northwest away from Taiwan and the United States, Japan, radar, surveillance vessels, and therefore are more easily concealed strategic strength. The United States Congress an annual report, There are more than 700 People's Liberation Army Air Force fighter planes deployed in the region within the scope of attacking Taiwan. PLA defensive and offensive units also have, for example, the deployment of long-range air defense missile system along the Taiwan Strait. These measures are available, the need for adequate for the protection of PLA quickly win air supremacy over the Taiwan Strait.

Jeff Head said:

Agreed on conventional weapons. But if the weapons were nuclear...and many believe that the ROC either already has, or could quickly produce nuclear weapons...then the equation changes.

I do not believe the People of China will annhiliation of scores of millions and major economic centers and cities over an offensive invasion of Taiwan by the PRC. For people who are defending their way of life, their freedom, and what they deem as their soveriegnty against an agressor who would offensively cross the stratis to destroy all of those things...they would probably defend themselves accordingly and feel that they did not have much to lose.

A back channel message to this effect has either already been commuinicated, or would be communicated if the ROC was in fact capable of producing such weapons and arming their missiles with them.

...but that is just my opinion.

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You do believe a small change in "way of life, their freedom, and what they deem as their soveriegnty" is worse than losing life? Say there are two options:

A) die like all the unknow civilians in any war in the history
B) live like the people in Hong Kong

Which one will be the choice for Taiwan people? Nuclear weapon? The time that PRC knows Taiwan is about to get it will be the time for the war. And I don't understand you even think they are capable of arming their missiles with nuclear warhead.

Jeff Head said:

Some pretty important new news from Taiwan:



If the ROC were to announce one day that it too has nuclear weapons, then a missile like this, particularly if available in any numbers, would level the playing field significantly as far as any invasion of Tawian goes. Just a thought.

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Then. they better just keep it a secret. I would assume that if Taiwan would have nuclear tip missiles. Then they leave China no choice but to declare war and invade and or do a first strike with nuclear missiles.

kca90 said:

Then. they better just keep it a secret. I would assume that if Taiwan would have nuclear tip missiles. Then they leave China no choice but to declare war and invade and or do a first strike with nuclear missiles.

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I think keeping it a secret would actually be counterproductive for Taiwan. Why develop it in the first place if not for deterrence? In that hypothetical situation, it would already have lost the support of its most important ally - the United States, and the only thing stopping China from invasion would be the threat of nuclear retaliation.

When you read these kind of information from China's web site, quoting from foreign sources, you have to be very careful. There are too many times that either quoted wrong, the sources were fake or some of the facts were left out.

Since it's said the original came from a UK source, why not just get the original source in English and you do not have to translate and see how it really said.

crobato said:

I googled translated this off from this webpage.

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Western assessment : PLA Air Force pilot over Taiwan decreased morale

Western assessments : PLA pilot over the quality of Taiwan's People's Liberation Army has deployed a large number of new fighters recently. Taiwan's top achieving slightly better overall quality of its pilots to prepare for the PLA. But the overall assessment is that Western military experts, PLA pilot training in quality have all combat capability and psychological quality over Taiwan. According to "China's defense," reported that Taiwan experts stressed that the PLA Air Force flying hours over, But no comprehensive response to the Air Force flight hours and the standard of training, because the data

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True.

But there isn't stuff there that I have not read before.

I remember reading about American advisers coming to Taiwan to evaluate the ROCAF modernization. Their comments were in effect, that despite all the new hardware coming in, their software has not come to match. On the other hand, on the other side of the straits, the PLAAF has been upgrading their software to match their hardware.

By "software" that means training, organization, doctrines, etc,.

That time, ROCAF had its problems. It has problems keeping pilots in the airforce, because the civil airliner business pays much better. (The JASDF had this problem too, so its not just a local phenomenon, and so I wonder to what extent S. Korea and even mainland China has this phenomenon. Quite likely too I would think, because the PLA as a whole has been complaining about their salaries.) At one point, the ROCAF had more modern fighters (IDF+F-16+M2000) combined than pilots to fly them.

That was years ago though. Hard to say if the situation still exists now.

I do think that in my opinion, the ROCAF "slept". They did not take the PLAAF modernization efforts seriously until it was too late. They had the attitude that the PLAAF was technologically inferior, that they could not even operate their Su-27s properly. I'm sure they love those stories about those Su-27s either falling out of the sky or not getting off the ground at all. Its not as if the PLAAF didn't have their modernization problems, they did, and there was plenty. But they also seemed very determined to get through that hump and had a lot of resources to match that determination.

For a long time, even with technical parity on the aircraft, and against superior numbers, the ROCAF pilots for a long time were better trained, an assumption which is not unjustified, considering the record and standings of ROCAF F-16 pilots in Luke AFB, which has competitions among different F-16 pilots around the world.

But arrogance leads to complecency until it is too late. The PLAAF, by keeping its modernization close to its chest, also helped kept those alarms from sounding off.

crobato said:

At one point, the ROCAF had more modern fighters (IDF+F-16+M2000) combined than pilots to fly them.

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That's still true today. The M2000s are basically out of action since no enough man power to operate/maintain them.

crobato said:

I do think that in my opinion, the ROCAF "slept". They did not take the PLAAF modernization efforts seriously until it was too late.

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No, they're fully aware of what's happening, but abandoned any hope of a serious fighting. They're just counting on Americans, true or false.

"If you guys overthrow the table and open fire, we simply surrender, no point to fight" a hardcore TIer told me before, he has the secret service background.

Taiwan's Mirage 2000 performed excersise last year, including took off from high way.

I think the main task for ROCAF is to defend themselves from a preemptive large scale attack. They have different missions from PLAAF. It's hard to evaluate from comparing the two sides' training.