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According to local media reports, in order to strengthen its anti-stealth combat capability, the Taiwan Air Force plans to purchase 5 to 6 E-2D airborne early warning aircraft from the United States, and is currently confirming its intention to sell to the United States and asking for the purchase price. The report said that the radar used by the E-2D early warning aircraft can detect targets 550 kilometers away, and is expected to "become a so-called 'weapon' for tracking the PLA's J-20 and other stealth fighters."

The E-2K early warning aircraft currently in use by the Taiwan Air Force is seriously aging and does not have the ability to track the PLA’s stealth fighters. Zhang Yanting, former deputy commander of the Taiwan Air Force, once admitted in a Taiwanese media program that the Taiwan military’s existing radars and early warning aircraft cannot see the J-20 fighters at all. The AN/APY-9 radar equipped with the E-2D is said to have a certain ability to detect, identify and lock on stealth targets in the air.

The fact is that during the Taiwan Strait operations, the E-2D's own battlefield survivability was problematic. Mainland military observer Wei Dongxu said that the Taiwan Air Force wanted to use the E-2D as an airborne early warning radar station to conduct long-range detection and identification of advanced mainland fighters, especially the J-20, and then guide its F-16V fighters imported from the United States to conduct air operations against stealth fighters. "Such an idea and tactics are completely a pipe dream!"

Taiwan Air Force E-2K early warning aircraft

In the process of performing the target detection mission, the E-2D early warning aircraft itself is also a huge "signal radiation source", and it is a very "eye-catching" target in front of the mainland's air defense early warning system. Wei Dongxu pointed out that the PLA can use the J-20 fighter to first carry out a long-range strike against the E-2D, and use the stealth function to break through to a front area. After the E-2D is knocked out first, other Taiwan Air Force fighters such as the F-16V, the Mirage-2000, and the IDF "Jingguo" will lose their airborne radar stations and airborne command posts.

Wei Dongxu bluntly stated that with the current air defense and air combat capabilities of the Taiwan military, there is no way to effectively protect the E-2D in flight or deployment. All Taiwan's airports and air force bases are within the coverage of the mainland's long-range firepower strikes. "Once the situation on both sides of the strait changes suddenly, it can be said that the E-2D will not even be able to find a safe 'foothold' and may be destroyed by long-range firepower on the ground, and may even have very few opportunities to take off and fight."

US E-2D airborne early warning aircraft

The DPP authorities' "use of force to seek independence" is completely a dead end. Wei Dongxu said that no matter how many weapons the Taiwan military makes or how much equipment it buys, it is just a waste of money and a window dressing. If the "Taiwan independence" forces on the island still fantasize about using force to seek "independence" and relying on foreign powers, the final outcome will surely be "a waste of effort". No matter what tricks they come up with, in the face of the mainland's powerful systematic combat capabilities, whether it is the E-2D or other imported American weapons and equipment, it is "like an egg hitting a stone".

(Source: CCTV View of Taiwan Straits)