According to domestic media reports on November 18, the "Taiwanese Air Force Special Fleet" celebrated its 76th anniversary. According to known reports, there are currently three types of administrative aircraft in Taiwan, such as the "Boeing 737-800 administrative aircraft" for the top leaders of the Taiwan authorities, and the "Fokker 50 aircraft" and "Biqi 1900 aircraft" for senior officials of the Taiwan military.
Because these administrative special aircraft are older, some "Taiwan independence" elements suggest that new administrative special aircraft should be purchased from the United States, and at the same time, some new US fighter jets should be purchased by the way to meet the possible air confrontation needs in the future. In other words, some "Taiwan independence" elements still fantasize about "using martial arts to seek independence" in an attempt to make the Taiwan authorities continue to waste funds in the military and expand their weak military strength.
In addition to the first news above, the second more important thing is that on November 17, the Taiwan authorities and the US government signed the so-called "three-stage subsequent maintenance of war control early warning radar" agreement. According to detailed reports, this agreement is provided by the US military to provide the Taiwan military with "logistics and support services" for about five years. The Taiwan authorities need to pay approximately NT$15.8 billion (approximately RMB 3.6 billion) for this agreement.
At the same time, the "Air Force Command" of the Taiwan military also stated on the same day that the Taiwan military's existing long-range early warning radar has entered a "medium lifespan". In order to maintain its air early warning capabilities do not decline due to aging of equipment, large-scale system updates and upgrades are needed. It is worth noting that the Taiwan Air Force has specifically mentioned that it is necessary to "meet combat readiness needs."
is currently located in the long-range early warning radar in Hsinchu, Taiwan Province. It is called "Taiwan Air Defense Eye" by the authorities and is under the command of the Taiwan Air Force Operations Command. This early warning radar is manufactured by Raytheon, the United States, and can provide medium- and long-range ballistic missile strike warning. It is worth mentioning that although the radar is now used by the Taiwan military, the US is still responsible for logistics maintenance.
That is to say, the Taiwan authorities only have the ability to use the radar and do not have the actual maintenance capabilities. If the radar is damaged by blows and damages in future local conflicts, the Taiwan military will become "blind" in missiles, and fighter aircraft detection. This is also the military reason why the DPP reactionary group led by Tsai Ing-wen considers continuing to cooperate with the US government.
What's more, the United States now has a large number of military technologies far exceeding those of countries around the world, so when it comes to high-end equipment such as early warning radar, it is absolutely impossible for the United States to hand over the technology to the Taiwan authorities, and even maintenance does not require the Taiwan military to take over. The United States is happy to have the Taiwan authorities send money to the US military every few years to maintain it.
is just in this agreement in November 2022, the Taiwan authorities specifically mentioned the so-called "meeting combat readiness needs". Judging from the news related to the above two major Air Forces revealed in 48 hours, it is obvious that the Taiwan authorities have great ambitions in expanding the strength of the Air Force.
In fact, it is definitely not enough for the Taiwan military to cooperate with the US military in early warning radar, and the Taiwan authorities are very clear about this. Therefore, in the future, the Taiwan military may continue to purchase a large number of US fighter jets, and even seek to purchase a large number of external sources in terms of cruise missiles, and individual anti-tank weapons.
However, even if the Taiwan authorities want to buy it, the United States may not dare to sell it. Especially in the context of the recession of global economy, the US government does not want to provoke a military "hot war" in the Taiwan Strait. In terms of China policy, Biden and may continue to adopt tentative military means to maintain military deterrence against China, but will not be economically decoupled from mainland China.
After all, if there is an economic confrontation between China and the United States, the internal contradictions in American society will be severely intensified and will also shake the stability of the Biden administration. This is one of the reasons why the United States has not continued to make new moves in the Taiwan Strait after Pelosi entered the Taiwan Strait this year.
In this way, no matter how great the ambitions of the Taiwan authorities and the Taiwan military are, if they really want to realize this ambition, they have to rely on the US arms sales plan to Taiwan.However, the United States is now busy dealing with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which requires a lot of time and energy to consolidate its dollar financial hegemony. In contrast, the request of the Taiwan authorities is no longer a priority response option.
Another important point is that starting from December, hundreds of senior TSMC engineers and important talents will go to the United States to work, and TSMC Group's core technology will also be moved away in large quantities by the United States. At that time, the Taiwan authorities will only have an "empty shell" TSMC. In this case, Tsai Ing-wen and others should also think about their retreat, whether they will continue to be merciless at the United States, or return to the embrace of the motherland? Time will witness everything.
