Taiwan's legislature is to debate whether to allocate funds from the 2009 defence budget in order to upgrade the country's fleet of Indigenous Defence Fighters (IDFs), sources at Taiwan's state-run defence contractor, Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC), told Jane's on 13 August. AIDC is hopeful of being given the green light to start work on at least half of the air force's fleet of 128 F-CK-1 'Ching-Kuo' air-interdiction IDFs, the sources said, with the debate set to take place within a matter of days. The IDF upgrade project - known as the 'Xiang Chan' programme - was initiated by former President Chen Shui-bian in 2000 as part of his 'offshore engagement' policy, which lifted restrictions on striking targets within China in the event of a cross-strait conflict.
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