Chinese radar locks onto Mirage fighter jet
By Brian Hsu
STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Mar 12, 2001,Page 1
Advertising Chinese anti-aircraft radar locked onto a Mirage 2000-5 fighter plane last week as the jet cruised along the middle line of the Taiwan Strait, a defense source said yesterday.
The incident was the first of its kind since August, when two Mirage fighters experienced similar challenges from Chinese anti-aircraft radars while patrolling the Taiwan Strait, the defense source said.
The latest incident was reported yesterday by ETToday, an Internet news service.
The August incident occurred while two Mirage fighters based in Hsinchu were patrolling the northern coastline at an altitude of about 10,000m.
The two planes then found themselves locked on by radar beams sourced from China's southeastern coast.
Air force officials later learned that the beams were from a radar that was guiding a Russian-made S-300 air defense system in Fujian Province.
Fearing further action from Chinese military, the air force scrambled two IDF fighters to aid the Mirage jets.
The result was a temporary standoff between the two sides of the Strait, which lasted for three hours before China stopped the lock-on attempts.
Crossing the line
* China and Taiwan have a mutual understanding that flying combat planes near or across the middle line of the Taiwan Strait could be taken as a provocative action.
* The incident is similar to one in August last year when radar beams from a defense system in Fujian Province locked onto two Mirage planes patrolling the north coast.
Source: Taipei Times
Last week's incident was similar to the August episode, defense sources said.
"The Mirage seemed to be flying a little left of the middle line of the Strait at the time," the defense source said.
"Although the middle line is imaginary, the two sides of the Strait share a mutual understanding that flying near or across the line by combat planes of either side could be taken as a provocative action."
The defense source said the Mirage pilot attempted to evade the lock-on attempts through certain maneuvers specific to the advanced fighter aircraft.
"He gave up the efforts after he was warned by military air controllers in Taiwan that his efforts might enable the enemy to learn the kinds of maneuvers a Mirage could do in order to avoid radar lock-on," the source said.
Erich Shih (施孝瑋), a senior editor with Defense International magazine, said that the series of lock-on attempts against Mirage planes might have something to do with the "egos" of the fighter planes' pilots.
"Mirage pilots seem to think very highly of themselves. They tend to show off too much sometimes. Their F-16 equivalents do not like them for their showy attitudes," Shih said.
"I cannot judge whether last week's incident was caused by the Mirage pilot himself. But I do notice that Mirage pilots in general think more highly of themselves than they actually are," Shih said.
"By the time the F-16 fighter is equipped with the advanced AIM-120 air-to-air missile, the Mirage will be no match at all," Shih added.
By Brian Hsu
STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Mar 12, 2001,Page 1
Advertising Chinese anti-aircraft radar locked onto a Mirage 2000-5 fighter plane last week as the jet cruised along the middle line of the Taiwan Strait, a defense source said yesterday.
The incident was the first of its kind since August, when two Mirage fighters experienced similar challenges from Chinese anti-aircraft radars while patrolling the Taiwan Strait, the defense source said.
The latest incident was reported yesterday by ETToday, an Internet news service.
The August incident occurred while two Mirage fighters based in Hsinchu were patrolling the northern coastline at an altitude of about 10,000m.
The two planes then found themselves locked on by radar beams sourced from China's southeastern coast.
Air force officials later learned that the beams were from a radar that was guiding a Russian-made S-300 air defense system in Fujian Province.
Fearing further action from Chinese military, the air force scrambled two IDF fighters to aid the Mirage jets.
The result was a temporary standoff between the two sides of the Strait, which lasted for three hours before China stopped the lock-on attempts.
Crossing the line
* China and Taiwan have a mutual understanding that flying combat planes near or across the middle line of the Taiwan Strait could be taken as a provocative action.
* The incident is similar to one in August last year when radar beams from a defense system in Fujian Province locked onto two Mirage planes patrolling the north coast.
Source: Taipei Times
Last week's incident was similar to the August episode, defense sources said.
"The Mirage seemed to be flying a little left of the middle line of the Strait at the time," the defense source said.
"Although the middle line is imaginary, the two sides of the Strait share a mutual understanding that flying near or across the line by combat planes of either side could be taken as a provocative action."
The defense source said the Mirage pilot attempted to evade the lock-on attempts through certain maneuvers specific to the advanced fighter aircraft.
"He gave up the efforts after he was warned by military air controllers in Taiwan that his efforts might enable the enemy to learn the kinds of maneuvers a Mirage could do in order to avoid radar lock-on," the source said.
Erich Shih (施孝瑋), a senior editor with Defense International magazine, said that the series of lock-on attempts against Mirage planes might have something to do with the "egos" of the fighter planes' pilots.
"Mirage pilots seem to think very highly of themselves. They tend to show off too much sometimes. Their F-16 equivalents do not like them for their showy attitudes," Shih said.
"I cannot judge whether last week's incident was caused by the Mirage pilot himself. But I do notice that Mirage pilots in general think more highly of themselves than they actually are," Shih said.
"By the time the F-16 fighter is equipped with the advanced AIM-120 air-to-air missile, the Mirage will be no match at all," Shih added.
