U.S. To Deny Taiwan New F-16 Fighters

[Feuer Frei!]

Bowing to Chinese pressure, the U.S. will deny Taiwan's request for 66 new F-16C/D fighter aircraft, a Taiwan Ministry of National Defense (MND) official said.



"We are so disappointed in the United States," he said.
A U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) delegation arrived here last week to deliver the news and offer instead a retrofit package for older F-16A/Bs that includes an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.
The visit coincided with the biennial Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition (TADTE), held here Aug. 11-14.


SOURCE

[Catfish]

Hi,
yes i think the peaceloving chinese mainland government are afraid Taiwan could attack them with their combined fleet and air arm, especially those new F16s.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Catfish

Hi,
yes i think the peaceloving chinese mainland government are afraid Taiwan could attack them with their combined fleet and air arm, especially those new F16s.

Either that or the Chinese plan on selling their 'copies' to them

[Gerald]

Gripen want them to have, but Taiwan pull out .... so far...

[Kazuaki Shimazaki II]

F-16C/D deal for Taiwan dead: report

THE BIG SURPRISE:It had been anticipated that the US would upgrade Taiwan’s entire fleet of F-16A/Bs. However, it appears only one of the two F-16 wings will be retrofitted

By J. Michael Cole / Staff Reporter
Taiwan will not be getting the 66 F-16C/D aircraft it has been requesting since 2007, a Ministry of National Defense official has confirmed, and fewer of its older F-16s will be retrofitted, news that could strike a blow to President Ma Ying-jeou’s administration as it heads into elections next January.
“We are so disappointed in the United States,” the official told Defense News on the sidelines of the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition (TADTE), which ended on Saturday, blaming the decision on pressure from Beijing.
The article, released last night and written by the magazine’s Asia Bureau chief, Wendell Minnick, said a US Department of Defense delegation had arrived in Taiwan last week to deliver the news to Taipei and that as an alternative it had offered to secure the upgrade package for Taiwan’s ageing fleet of F-16A/B aircraft.
“The US Pentagon is here explaining what is in the upgrade package,” a US defense industry source told the magazine. “They are going to split the baby: no C/Ds, but the A/B upgrade is going forward.”
“The switch is meant to soften the blow of denying new planes to Taipei,” a source at Lockheed Martin, maker of the F-16, told Defense News.
Part of the deal, which sources said would be made toward the end of this month, would include an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, Defense News said.
The AESA radar will likely be Northrop Grumman’s Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) or the Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar (RACR), although a source told the Taipei Times last week that some components of the SABR may yet to have cleared export licensing from the US government.
According to the magazine, the upgrade would make Taiwan’s F-16s among the most capable variants of the aircraft, “perhaps second only to the APG-80 AESA-equipped F-16E/Fs flown by the United Arab Emirates.”
However, in a follow-up conversation with the Taipei Times, Minnick said it now appeared that, contrary to initial plans to have the entire 146 F-16A/Bs upgraded, fewer aircraft would be retrofitted.
“My sources now indicate the A/B upgrade could be limited to only one of the two F-16 wings” that comprise the Taiwanese air force, he said.
It was unclear whether the limited upgrades were decided by the US or Taiwan. The cost for the requested F-16C/Ds was estimated at US$5.5 billion, while the upgrade program for Taiwan’s 146 F-16A/Bs was set at US$4.2 billion.
The American Institute in Taiwan yesterday denied a decision had been made on the F-16 C/D sale.

[Jimbuna]

They could always go for the quickest and cheapest option...loads of Harriers for sale

[Castout]

So China successfully pressured US. A sign of things to come definitely.

[Gerald]

I think not, a political spectacle in the usual.

[TLAM Strike]

The United States is no longer the arsenal of democracy, we only sell to our Arab "friends" now.

[Kazuaki Shimazaki II]

Originally Posted by Castout

So China successfully pressured US. A sign of things to come definitely.

They've been successfully pressuring the US on this point for years. Remember the Kidd destroyers?

The real problem is America's attempt to please everyone with doublespeak and half measures, which winds up making few people truly happy.

[Oberon]

The F-CKs aren't bad aircraft but Taiwan will struggle to build them in the numbers needed to combat PLAAF numerical superiority.

I guess now would be the time to start referring to Taiwan as Formosa then...

[Tchocky]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

The United States is no longer the arsenal of democracy, we only sell to our Arab "friends" now.

You guys have always sold to dodgy countries, it's the same for any country that has an arms industry

You guys have always sold to dodgy countries, it's the same for any country that has an arms industry

Indeed, Taiwan as an example for the vast majority of its existance is best described as a one party totalitarian dictatorship with extremely repressive military law imposed by force on its people.
"Aresnal of democracy" was really only ever a myth for propoganda purposes.

[MH]

Move like this may signal to China that USA can no longer be bothered over Taiwan issue.
Sort of like Czechoslovakia before ww2.

It looks like radical change in American policies.

It looks like radical change in American policies.

It looks like business as usual.