Taiwan grounds entire fleet of French-made Mirage jets after overnight crash

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Taiwan grounded the entire French-made Mirage-2000s fleet on Wednesday a day after the crash of a fighter jet into the sea.

The crash, the ninth serious incident involving the Taiwanese air force's Mirage-2000s since the acquisition of 60 Mirage fighters in 1997, occurred during a night training flight.

Authorities said the crash occurred in Taiwan Strait waters off northwestern Hsinchu county.

The pilot, however, was rescued and is said to be in good condition, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported.

Seven of the aircraft have crashed, with five pilots killed and eight rescued in such accidents in the 30-year flight history of Taiwan's Mirage-2000s.

A fourth-generation multirole supersonic jet, the Mirage 2000, was introduced by the French manufacturer Dassault in the 1970s.

President William Lai Ching-te, who visited pilot Captain Hsieh Pei-hsun in a hospital in Taichung on Wednesday, said the island nation's defense ministry will investigate the crash and report back to the public once the cause has been determined.

Taipei has held regular military drills amid tensions across the Taiwan Strait since Lai was inaugurated as president early this year in May.

Earlier this week, Lai's administration approved an additional budget of more than $1.3 billion to procure an advanced electronic warfare system from the US known as Viper Shield.

Taiwan has also approved the construction of seven new submarines to strengthen its navy. It has budgeted around $8.75 billion to build the new attack submarines.

The island nation, sitting south of Taiwan Strait and claimed in full by China, early this year launched its first home-built submarine, named "Narwhal."