This is good news in the air defense area:
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.
The IDF, kind of like an early model F-16 with short range and under-powered engines, was locally built (duh) when the Reagan administration denied Taiwan new fighters in the era when we were counting on China to absorb lots of Soviet firepower (and when China lacked the military power to do much more than absorb a massive hammer blow if the Soviets had invaded Manchuria).
I don't know why Taiwan hasn't developed another fighter aircraft to get around the problem of getting us to sell them advanced fighters. I understand it would be much cheaper to buy late model F-16s, but if they aren't available, what options are left?
