Since there has been nothing exciting enough to blog about in the current state of affairs in Taiwan’s military aviation, let us look at what I have found while researching for the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis. Although the Crisis involved more than just air combats, I am focusing on air operations here.
The following pages are extracted from the declassified document Air Operations in the Taiwan Crisis of 1958, 1962. Though it may not surprise anyone that the US set the rules of engagement for Taiwan, this is my first time to see it in writing (page 1). What I think the most interesting is the comments on the tactics employed by PLAAF aircraft (page 3). The document also explains why there had been few reconnnaissance flights during the conflict (page 4).
Speaking of PLAAF fighter tactics, another document also describes the poor performance of Chinese fighters. You might laugh at the fact that the MiG pilots did not jettison their wing tanks before engaging enemy aircraft:
It also gives a summary of observations on Chinese fighter tactics during the Crisis:
The interesting side note—how did ROCAF became the first user of air to air guided missiles in combat….
http://home.inreach.com/tc/page7.html