TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Despite the high cost of maintenance, the Mirage 2000 jets are still crucial to the defense of north Taiwan, former Defense Minister Yan De-fa (嚴德發) said Wednesday (Oct. 9)

The crash of a Mirage in September raised questions about the usefulness of the aging jets. Taiwan had 60 of the fighter airplanes delivered by France from 1997, but eight aircraft were lost in accidents.

Yan said that during his term as minister from 2018 to 2021, he had considered scrapping the planes, but despite the elevated cost of maintenance and spare parts, he had decided against because they played a key role in the defense of the north of the country, per CNA. In the end, he chose to have the Mirage jets upgraded instead of scrapped, he told lawmakers.

Yan said his main concerns at the time were national security. Opposition lawmakers said the military should consider replacing the Mirages as they were no longer a match for Chinese jets.

Yan, who now heads the Cabinet’s Veterans Affairs Council, said he would pass the legislators’ opinions on to the Air Force. Taiwan reportedly recently abandoned plans to develop a new indigenous fighter jet, instead hoping to procure aircraft from the United States.