Taiwan unveils fighter upgrade and stand off air-launched missile

Wan Chien stand-off air-to-surface missile fitted to an upgraded F-CK-1 Indigenous Defense Fighter (J Michael Cole)

Taiwan's Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF) unveiled the first batch of 71 upgraded Ching-kuo Indigenous Defense Fighters (IDF/F-CK-1) at Tainan air base in southern Taiwan on 16 January 2014. It also took the opportunity to unveil the Wan Chien (Ten Thousand Swords) stand-off air-to-surface missile fitted to an upgraded F-CK-1 fighter

Asia-Pacific Military Aviation News roundup: 02 Oct 2013

HMM-262 Sea Knight at Ex Cobra Gold, Thailand in 2009

According to reports from Russia quoting Indonesian sources, Indonesia has a requirement of 112 fighters between now and 2024. The TNI-AU intends to form 8 squadrons of 16 aircraft each. It already operates 16 Su-27/30s and has 24 refurbished F-16C/Ds on order.

End of an era as the last Okinawa-based U.S. Marine CH-46 Sea Knight made its last flight prior to storage pending disposal. The helicopters from Marine Helicopter Medium Squadron 262 (HMM-262) is in the process of converting to the MV-22B Osprey. Another Okinawa-based squadron is now flying Ospreys since 2012, having also turned in its Sea Knights.

More details have emerged of the new Taiwanese-built air launched precision weapon we reported on a while back. The Wan Chien is a cluster munition with a range of over 200km. It will equip the AIDC F-CK-1 Ching Kuo fighters of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force, with forty Tainan based aircraft already retrofitted for the new weapon.

Marine aviation assets temporarily deployed to Japan are currently in the Philippines conducting training with Philippine Air Force personnel. F/A-18C Hornets from VMFA-232 'Red Devils' and AH-1W Super Cobras of HMLA-167 'Warriors' are temporarily deployed to Japan as part of the USMC's Unit Deployment Program (UDP)

Photos from Taiwanese AF road-runway exercise

The Republic of China Air Force operated from a closed-off motorway as a runway during a part of a major military exercise simulating a Chinese surprise attack that had wiped out its major airbases. Codenamed Han Kuang 27, two F-16s, two Mirage 2000-5s and two F-CK-1 Indigenous Defence Fighters landed on a motorway near Tainan city, refuelled and rearmed before taking off again. (All Photos, Reuters)

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U.S. Releases Radar Upgrades for Taiwan Fighters

The US has announced the sale of radar upgrades for Taiwans fleet of F-CK-1A/B "Ching-kuo" Indigenous Defense Fighters (IDF). The IDF is equipped with a GD-53 Golden Dragon multi-mode monopulse Pulse-Doppler radar, which is based on the General Electric AN/APG-67 X band radar with some components from the F-16's AN/APG-66.