[Enemy Of The State]

"How exactly will vtol aircraft help taiwan's defense? Harriers are short range ground support and interdiction aircraft, not air superiority fighters, they would be slapped out the sky by the Chinese su-27s and j-10s"

Because China will tip off an attack by missile first in order to eliminate airports and runways. Harriers do not require runways since they have verticle takeoff ability. Once airborne the harriers can provide defense until jet fighters are capable of launching.

[borghead]

dude, have you seen the performance of harriers against F-15s and F16s, they suck against modern fighter aircraft, now against a mig-21 the harrier will likely win, but face it the vstol aircraft wasn't designed with an air-superiority role in mind, its built for ground or naval interdiction.

[piasa]

Or more likely be used to hit Chinese surface vessels and other targets of interest.