There were no proposals from the US to lend Taiwan such fighters, ministry spokesman Major General Chen Chung-chi (陳中吉) said, calling the report “pure speculation by the media.”On Monday, Chinese-language online news outlet Up Media, citing an unnamed source, reported that US officials had expressed an interest in giving Taiwan refitted decommissioned F-15s. The air force’s main high-altitude interceptor, the Dassault Mirage 2000, is aging and increasingly difficult to service, it added. US officials believe that giving Taiwan refurbished F-15s without auxiliary fuel tanks might allay China’s fears about Taipei having an advanced, long-range multi-role fighter, the source added. The 2040C variant is designed to carry up to 16 air-to-air missiles, climb at 15,240m per minute and take off and land on relatively short runways. The jets reportedly destined for Taiwan would have a mid-life upgrade package and avionics equivalent to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s Mitsubishi F-15J, the report said.

Source: Taipei Times March 20, 2018 15:56 UTC