Major upgrades to Taiwan’s F-16 fighter jets are under threat from US government budget cuts, according to recent reports.
If plans to replace the avionics and radars in the 146 F-16A/B jets do not go ahead, it could deal a huge blow to the nation’s defenses.
According to reports published in Defense News and on the Internet, the US Air Force (USAF) is cutting the Combat Avionics Programmed Extension Suite (CAPES) from the Pentagon’s budget for next year, which is scheduled to be released on March 4.
US Department of Defense officials reached by the Taipei Times refused to confirm or deny the reports.
While Taiwan may still be able to go ahead on its own and fund the upgrades — currently priced at about US$5.3 billion — the costs would be much greater and perhaps prohibitive without US participation.
With Taiwan already making drastic military cuts, its economy struggling and with billions of dollars in US arms purchases outstanding, Taipei may not be able to afford it.
US President Barack Obama promised the upgrades in 2011 after he turned down Taipei’s repeated requests to buy more advanced F-16C/D jets.
There was a great deal of publicity about the upgrades at the time, with Washington experts touting them as a way for Taipei to maintain a credible defense to deter or at least slow down a possible Chinese invasion of the nation until US forces could reach the scene.
Without the upgrades, the nation’s aging air force fleet will have very limited stopping power.
Defense News called the development “potentially devastating” for Taiwan and quoted one expert as saying it has created a “crisis.”
The publication also quoted Ed Ross, president of the Virginia-based EWRoss International consulting firm, as saying: “With no new F-16C/Ds approved for Taiwan, its Air Force is up a creek with not much of a paddle and I’m not sure there is anyone in the Obama administration that gives much of a damn.”
The US Air Force had originally planned to upgrade 300 F-16s under the CAPES program and the economy of scale would have thus reduced the costs for upgrading Taiwan’s fighters.
Under the upgrade program, Taiwan’s F-16s were to receive Northrop Grumman scalable agile beam radar, which would give them an enormous advantage in combat.
Taiwan could now try to join South Korea or Singapore in less attractive upgrade programs or plead again with Obama to sell F-16C/Ds.
However, pressure from Beijing is almost certain to stop a sale of the more advanced jets.
Defense News said that “multiple sources” had told them the CAPES program was being dropped to make funds available for an F-16 service life extension program.
This is terrible news for the balance of power in the East China Sea,” a defense industry site said. “With this decision, China no longer has to worry about hundreds of F-16s with advanced radar, mission computers and EW [electronic warfare] sensors in the potential East China Sea conflict, as none of the USAF and ROCAF [Republic of China Air Force] F-16s would pose a threat to China’s advanced fighter types operating in the area.”
“For the first time, China would gain an upper hand over the US-Japan-Taiwan in the East China Sea,” the Web site added.
Losing the F-16 upgrade could be “grave” for Taiwan, said Rick Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center in Alexandria, Virginia.
However, he told the Taipei Times that it was still possible that the program could survive or that it may just be delayed.
“It would be a travesty — especially during the 35th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act — to allow Taiwan’s fighter upgrade program to become a casualty of American budget politics,” he said.
Fisher said that if the Pentagon dropped the program, it would undermine Washington’s credibility in Taipei, as well as erode other US alliances in Asia.
“After several years of testing, China has recently started producing the Chengdu J-10B for Chinese Air Force units,” he said.
The J-10B likely has an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, which is the same kind of technology that was meant to be added to Taiwan’s F-16A fighters, Fisher said.
AESA radar systems are also likely to be used by Shenyang’s new J-16 twin-seat strike fighter and by future versions of the Shenyang J-15 aircraft carrier fighter, he said, adding that an AESA radar-equipped fighter would have a decisive advantage.
If the F-16 upgrade program fails, the US should encourage and help Taiwan to establish new missile programs, Fisher said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College