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- 17 март 2005
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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.”
He said the air force had signed an open agreement with French aircraft manufacturer Dassault, and there had been no problems with the supply of spare parts. He said long-term logistic support had also been implemented in accordance with the agreement.
Shortly before this, Taiwanese media had reported that the performance of the Mirage 2000-5 in the Taiwanese Air Force had not been very satisfactory. High maintenance costs had left approximately half of the fighter jets in unreliable condition, and the Taiwanese Air Force was considering the possibility of selling up to 50 percent of its Mirage 2000-5 fighters.
Brochures available from the No. 737 Wing of the Taiwanese Air Force list the costs of its Indigenous Defense Fighter, F-16 and Mirage 2000-5 fighter ground service stations. The production and procurement costs of the ground service stations of these three types of fighter aircraft are respectively NT$1.2 million (US$37,500), NT$2.5 million (US$78,000) and NT$7.5 million (US$234,000). In other words, the cost of a Mirage 2000-5 ground service station is three times that of the F-16 fighter.
An authoritative source from the Taiwanese Air Force who is in charge of frontline maintenance of the Mirage 2000-5s also told the author that there had been no difficulty in the supply of spare parts, but that the cost of these parts was at least two times higher than those for the F-16, on average. Because of this, Taiwan could not procure a rapid supply of parts.
As for fuel consumption, when the F-16 and the Mirage 2000-5 fighters are on air missions at the same altitude with the same flight range for combat cruising, the latter’s fuel consumption is at least 1.5 times higher than the F-16.
A senior level officer from the Taiwanese Navy also answered the author’s questions about the navy’s Lafayette frigate. He stressed that everything was normal, and that the Lafayette’s combat missions would be conducted separately from those of the Perry class FFG.
The author’s questions were: During three visits to the Zuoying Naval Base, the press noticed there were at least three or four Lafayette FFGs anchored at the port each time, while there were fewer indigenous Perry class FFGs, which were built during the same period of time, anchored at the port. Was it once again because of expensive parts and fuel consumption that the Lafayette’s actual service rate was not as good as the Perry’s?
The Lafayette FFGs are overdue for an overhaul and upgrade, but a source from the Taiwanese Navy said there was no plan at the moment to install domestic-made ship-to-air vertical launch missile launchers on the FFG. The Defense Ministry earlier did plan to outfit the indigenous TK1/2 ship-to-air missile on the Lafayette, yet apparently it had no way to implement the plan in the near term.
