The Ministry of National Defense yesterday confirmed that the air force is mulling the purchase of 60 US-made F-16 fighter jets to upgrade its aging air force fleet.
"The ministry has been in touch with the US on procuring F-16C/D fighters, but the purchase has not been decided," spokesman Rear Admiral Wu Chi-fang (吳季方) told the Taipei Times yesterday.
However, an air force official said on condition of anonymity that the air force has decided to buy F-16C/D fighters, and the US has basically agreed to the sale.
The US-based Defense News weekly yesterday quoted a US defense source as saying that the purchase of the advanced model F-16C/D Block 52 fighter jets would be discussed during talks between the two countries in Washington during May 25-29.
"Taiwan needs to modernize its fleet to counter the advanced fighters the PRC [People's Republic of China] is fielding now," the source in the Defense News report said. "Even if Taiwan decides to purchase the aircraft this year, Taiwan won't see the aircraft until 2011-2012 due to paperwork and the production timeline. By that time, the IDFs will be close to 20 years old and the F-16A/Bs will be over 15 years old."
The Taiwanese air force official said the air force initially hoped to procure more than 40 decommissioned F-15s to fill the vacuum in air defense before the next-generation fighter force is built, but it finally decided to buy more advanced F-16C/D fighters
Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (
Lee said the air force hoped to create the new fighter force by 2020, and that its first choice would be to use the newest US' Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) -- which will come into service in the next few years -- but the US has refused to offer Taiwan its newest fighters.
Lee said that the ministry has calculated that Taiwan would find it difficult to procure the US model before 2020.
The air force has 146 F-16 A/Bs, 56 Mirage-2000s and 128 IDFs in its fleet as well as more than 60 F-5Es. The F-16 and Mirage-2000 fighters will remain in service for another 15 to 20 years.
Wu yesterday said the ministry was still concentrating on the arms bill, which calls for the purchase of eight conventional submarines, 12 P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft, and three PAC-3 Patriot anti-missile systems.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
RSS