Asia-Pacific Military Aviation News roundup: 23 Sept 2013

Taiwanese F-16B

A bit of Taiwan-centric regional military aviation news roundup today:

Frustrated by American refusal to sell it JDAMs, Taiwan has developed its own smart munitions to equip the RoCAF's fighters.

In an effort to determine the cause, Taiwan has salvaged the wreck of a Mirage 2000 from the sea following a crash in May this year.

Still on Taiwan, the first of 12 P-3C Orions should arrive in Taiwan in the next day or so.

Following a six-month deployment, the F-16s of the USAF's 55th Fighter Squadron has left Osan in South Korea and returned to their base at Shaw AFB.

A Chinese general has reiterated the right of Chinese military aircraft to transit through international airspace between two Japanese islands for training flights into the Western Pacific. He also said that such training flights will continue, irregardless of Japan scrambling interceptors to investigate.

VIDEO: Taiwan's Mirage 2000s in action

A very cool video of Taiwan's Mirage 2000-5 fighters and the RoCAF (Republic of China Air Force) pilots who fly them. Spotter's badge to Guillaume Steuer from Air and Cosmos.

Mirage in Taiwan - The ROCAF (Taiwan) Mirage 2000-5 from Wayne Hsu on Vimeo.

French Mirage crash kills Taiwanese exchange pilot

Mirage 2000-5F of EC 01.002. Photo © Tom Houquet/Koksijde Spotting Group

The Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF) has confirmed a Taiwanese exchange pilot died in a crash of a French Armee de l'Air Mirage 2000-5F fighter during a training flight in eastern France Wednesday. The pilot, identified as 37-year-old Lieutenant-Colonel Wang Tung-yi (王同義) was on a training exchange program at Luxeuil/St.Sauveur airbase.

According to a Radio France Internationale report, local witnesses said they saw a "ball of fire" crash into a wooded area about 500 meters from a group of houses, while Froideconche Mayor Henri Passard said that based on information he had received, Lieutenant-Colonel Wang did everything in his power to avoid crashing into houses and subsequently ejected too late to save himself. The French newspaper Le Pays has pinpointed the crash site (see map below) as just north of the nearby town of Luxeuil-les-Bains.

Map of reported crash site. Note location of town and airbase

The Armee de l'Air has been reported to have announced at a news conference that the Mirage crashed two minutes after taking off at approximately 1005 hrs local and was loaded with 240 20mm shells and 7000 liters of fuel, flying as number 4 of a 4-ship patrol which was part of the "operational alert" force (Ed: QRA?)

Luxeuil/St.Sauveur (BA116) is the home of the Mirage 2000-5s of EC 01.002 Cigognes, one of the most famous units of the Armee de l'Air. The RoCAF operates 56 (from an original order of 60) Mirage 2000-5Di and -5Ei with the three squadrons based at Hsinchu, in the northeastern part of the island of Taiwan.

UPDATE: The RoCAF has grounded it's fleet of Mirages pending the outcome of the crash investigation. It has also been revealed the Lt-Col Wang was two months away from completing his two-year exchange stint in France. Sources indicate that the crashed Mirage was serialled 116-ER (n°68).

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)

(Click on thumbnails for larger images)

UAE Mirages, F-16 Block 60s arrive in Italy for operations over Libya

Despite some initial doubts on their commitment, six F-16 Block 60s and a similar number of Mirage 2000-9s from the United Arab Emirates air force landed at Italy's Decimomannu air base to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya. The contingent was supported by an Emirates Airlines Airbus A330-200 transport carrying personnel and equipment.

UAE, Netherlands contribute aircraft to enforce Libya NFZ

The list of countries contributing to the enforcement of Libya's no-fly zone grows; the Netherlands has sent a contingent of six F-16s and a KDC-10 to support operations, while the United Arab Emirates has also announced that it is contributing a dozen aircraft, six F-16s and a similar number of Mirage 2000s.

Taiwan to conduct emergency runway exercise on highway

Taiwan has announced that RoCAF F-16s and Mirage 2000s will take part in an emergency runway exercise in April. A stretch of highway in Tainan in the south of the island will be converted into a runway, and the Army's AH-1 Cobra helicopter gunships will be involved in the exercise for the first time.

Qatari Mirages arrive in Crete after emergency fuel stop in Cyprus

A Qatari Air Force contingent of two Mirage 2000s and a C-17 have arrived in Crete to carry out operations enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya. The aircraft had to make an emergency divert to Cyprus after running low on fuel. Four other Mirages are due to arrive at an as-yet undetermined time.

Qatar sending Mirage 2000s to enforce Libya no-fly zone

A French Ministry of Defence spokesman has said that Qatar is to send four Mirage 2000 fighter jets to contribute to operations enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya. The Qatari Mirages would fly to France and operate out of a French airbase in Corsica.

Armee de l'Air draws first blood over Libya

Late Saturday evening, the Armee de l'Air (French Air Force) became the first coalition air force to drop live weapons in enforcement of the Libyan no-fly zone when its Mirage 2000s dropped precision guided weapons on tanks of the Libyan government threatening rebel-held Benghazi. According to the French, Rafales also flew reconnaissance missions and CAP over Libya.

Greek jets intercept Turkish jets over Aegean

The Turkish military has said that Greek Mirage 2000 and F-16s have intercepted Turkish F-16s which were on training flight over the Aegean Sea. It detailed three encounters between the two air forces, which has previously escalated into casualties on both sides in the past.

RAF, UAE conduct air exercise

The RAF and UAEAF have conducted a joint exercise in the emirate named Ex Air Khanjar. RAF Typhoons joined the hosts' F-16s and Mirage 2000s in Dissimilar Air Combat Training and simulated ship attack and defence scenarios. The Royal Navy's HMS Cumberland was the ship involved.

France test fires new ASMP-A nuclear missile

An Armee de l'Air Mirage 2000N has test fired the new ASMP-A nuclear missile (without the warhead). The test-firing was reported to be a success.

NOTE: The article is in French, so if your French skills are non-existent like mine, Google Translator is your best friend.

Taiwan says no plans to mothball Mirage 2000s

Despite reports to the contrary, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) has said that it has no plans to mothball its Mirage 2000-5 fighters. It Air Force Chief of Staff reports fleetwide flight readiness at 72 percent. 56 of originally 60 Mirage 2000-5s remain in service with the RoCAF

RAF and IAF AEWACs participate in joint exercise.

Indian and Royal Air Force Airborne Early Warning aircraft are participating in Exercise “Indradhanush” at West Bengal's Kalaikunda Airbase. The RAF's Eurofighter Typhoons, E-3D Sentry and VC-10 tankers are involved in the exercise with IAF SU-30MKIs, Mirage 2000s, MiG-27s and Il-76 AEW aircraft.

Taiwan to review Mirage 2000 fleet

A Taiwannese parliamentarian has asked its Defence Minister to to undertake a comprehensive review of the RoCAF's Dassault Mirage 2000-5s fighters. The fleet's annual flying time will be halved to 5,000 hours this year.

French Air Force facing capability gaps

With budget cuts looming, the Armee de l'Air will face capability gaps as a project to upgrade the Mirage 2000D is likely to be delayed. The Mirage 2000D Mid Life Upgrade was to have replaced the retiring Mirage F1 in the ELINT role.