Wonderful stuff Arthur!
It’s clear that nations like Taiwan and Israel would seek to address the issue they have with the amount of ‘strategic depth’ (or lack there of) with underground hangars etc.
Here’s a nice peice on Taiwan’s largest underground airbase facility.
http://www.nautilus.org/napsnet/dr/0105/MAY23.html
Taiwan Air Defense
The London Times (Oliver August, “SECRET WORLD THAT GUARDS TAIWAN,” Hualien, 5/23/01) reported that the Jiashan airbase is Taiwan’s most sensitive defense installation where more than 120 fighter jets are hidden inside a mountain to foil PRC attackers. Underground flight crews arm and fuel the jets before they fly out of the hillside protected by anti-aircraft guns. On their return, the planes touch down on a shortened runway along the tunnel entrance before disappearing into the caves again. Taiwan’s military regards Jiashan as its last line of defense against a PRC invasion.
The caves are buried under hundreds of feet of granite and the steel doors at the end of the tunnels apparently can withstand nuclear blasts. Arthur Ding, of the Institute of International Relations, “The mountains around Hualien are so steep that any incoming missile would have a trajectory problem. After flying horizontally across the Taiwan Strait the missile would have to clear the top of the mountain and then immediately drop straight down to hit the base.”
Military planners assume that after a strike by the PRC, Taiwan’s fighter jets would still be able to take off unharmed. Ding said, “After the first wave we have the capability to counter-attack.” Jiashan was built eight years ago and has room for a third of Taiwan’s Air Force, including US-made F16 jets.
The Taiwanese government is planning a huge expansion of underground air shelters near the island’s east coast. Sean Boyne of Jane’s Intelligence Review stated, “There are a number of others under construction, due for completion by 2003.” Like Jiashan, they may include hospitals and command centers as well as space for munitions and parts.
The first new base at Chih-hang was completed in January. Boyne said, “In time of war Taiwan would move combat aircraft from vulnerable sectors on the west coast–the side facing China–to these shelters.” Taiwan’s Defense Minister Wu Shih-wen confirmed the expansion drive, saying, “We need to extend our underground shelters and make them even more resistant to attack.”
[Ed. note: This article was included in the US Department of Defense’s Early Bird news service for May 23, 2001.]
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