Taiwan to Spend $329M for Crucial Mirage 2000-5 Parts

Defense News Taiwan :- Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense is spending 10.2 billion New Taiwan dollars (equal to $329 million) to buy spare parts for its Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets. The goal is to make sure these French-made planes can keep doing their job well for many more years.

These fighter jets have been serving in the Taiwanese Air Force for over 20 years. The plan is to get the spare parts from this month until December 2028 for the Mirage fleet based at Hsinchu Air Base.

The decision to extend the life of these combat jets started being discussed in 2023, as Taiwan is also expecting to get new F-16 jets from the United States.

About the Taiwan Mirage:
The Mirage 2000-5 is a type of single-engine aircraft made by Dassault. It is armed with Magic 2 air-to-air missiles, which help in both air and ground combat. This aircraft can go as fast as 2,530 kilometers (703 miles) per hour.

In 1997, the Taiwanese Air Force ordered 60 of these Mirages, but some crashes have brought down the number of working planes to 54. These planes were assigned to protect Taiwan's airspace, especially in the northern part, due to rising tensions with China.

Apart from spare engine parts, Taipei has also made a deal with a French company to buy components for the air-to-air missiles used by its Mirage 2000-5s.