Looking ahead to the 1990s, the air force realized that its two mainstay fighters would be outmatched in terms of speed, weapons and performance by new warplanes developed by the Chinese Communists, such as the PLA F-8 Ⅱ fighter.
放眼一九九○年代，這兩種防禦主力，將面對中共新發展的殲八乙型戰機和其他轟炸、偵察等新機種，不論是速度、武器裝載、操作性能等，已不太能符合空防需要。