Upgraded early warning aircraft arrive in Taiwan

China may attack Taiwan using the next North Korean crisis which it will help create.

TAIPEI: Taiwan has received its final two upgraded early warning aircraft from the United States, a move expected to bolster the island’s air defence against rival China, the air force said Sunday.

Analysts say the planes — which have an all-weather early warning and control system platform with upgraded radar, software, avionics and propellers — will further reduce warning time if China launched an air attack on the island.

China has repeatedly threatened to invade Taiwan should the island declare formal independence, prompting Taipei to seek more advanced weapons, largely from the United States.

The arrival of the two new E-2Ks brings the number of the advanced aircraft in the Taiwanese fleet to six. Taiwan acquired four less advanced E-2Ts from the US in 1995 and added two E-2Ks in 2006. The US then agreed to upgrade the four E-2Ts to E-2Ks as part of a $6.5 billion arms sale that upset Beijing in 2008. That deal also included advanced interceptor Patriot missiles, Apache attack helicopters and submarine-launched missiles. The two new planes to be delivered are the last of the four to be upgraded.

The air force declined to provide specifications of the E-2K, which is an improved version of Northrop Grumman’s E-2T, but military experts say it is equivalent to the E-2C 2000 now serving the US navy. Equipped with two eight-blade propellers and a dome on the back which houses antennas for their long-range radars, the planes were transported to the southern port of Kaohsiung Saturday, the air force said. A picture printed in Taiwan’s Liberty Times newspaper showed the two new planes, with their wings folded and fully covered by a white protective plastic sheet, being towed from the harbour to the nearby airport. The paper said the two aircraft are expected to fly to their home base is southern Pingtung county in a week. Ties between Taipei and Beijing have improved markedly since Ma Ying-jeou of the China-friendly Kuomintang party came to power in 2008, promising to boost trade links and allow more Chinese tourists to visit the island.

Taiwan's new early warning radar system covers as far as 3,000 nautical miles

Taiwan's new early warning radar system covers nearly 360 degrees and a reconnaissance distance as far as 3,000 nautical miles that helped Taiwan detect North Korea's rocket launch even minutes earlier than Japan, a source with the Air Force has said.

The long-range early warning radar system helped the nation detected North Korea's rocket launch shortly after it blasted off Dec. 12, the source said.

The long-range early warning radar system installed at Loshan in Hsinchu County was formally inaugurated last month.

The source said that Taiwan's long-range radar can even collect information of some areas in Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, including the disputed Diaoyutai Islands in the East China Sea and Taiping Island, the largest island in the Sprately Islands in the South Sea.

The Diaoyutai Islands, located about 100 natuical miles northeast of Taiwan, is under Japan's administrative control since 1972 , but is also claimed by Taiwan and China.

The budget of the U.S.-built radar system was increased by another US$200 million last year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.38 billin), an mount the Air Force found unacceptable and has asked for an arbitration.

Statistics showed that the system is more powerful than those of the same type currently in service in the United States, according to the source.

The radar can detect and track short- and long-range ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, the source said, adding that the radar can pinpoint the trajectory of any intruding missile and thus give Taiwan more time to prepare a response. 

Taiwan upgrades dozens of fighter jets to maintain credible deterrent against China

Taiwan plans to complete the first stage of an ambitious plan to upgrade its fighter jet force by the end of 2013, in an effort to maintain a credible deterrent against China into the 2030s.
Some 60 of Taiwan's Indigenous Defence Fighters (IDFs) will be upgraded and ready for deployment within 12 months, according to a report submitted to parliament by the defence ministry.
The aircraft will be equipped with enhanced radar, avionics and electronic warfare capabilities, along with a locally-produced cluster bomb, according to the report.

The remainder of the country's 127-strong fleet of IDFs will be upgraded by 2017, the report said.
Taiwan deployed the IDFs in 1992 and the upgrade, which kicked off in 2009, will extend the service life of the aircraft for about another two decades according to the report, which was submitted to parliament last week and made available to AFP by a legislator on Monday.

The United States last year agreed to equip Taiwan's 146 ageing US-made F-16 A/B jets with new technologies in a $5.85 billion deal that irked China.
Beijing still sees Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary, even though the island has governed itself since 1949.

China has repeatedly threatened to invade Taiwan should the island declare formal independence, prompting Taipei to develop more advanced weapons or seek to buy them from abroad.