Lawmakers yesterday passed the Special Act on the Procurement of Updated Fighter Jets (新式戰機採購特別條例), which caps the budget for the purchase of 66 F-16Vs at NT$250 billion (US$8.19 billion).
The act aims to respond to enemy threats and urgent national defense needs by gradually acquiring updated high-performance jets, to strengthen the air force’s combat abilities, improve the nation’s preparedness for joint operations, and ensure national and regional security, the act states.
It also seeks to enable the nation to attain autonomy regarding defense and drive domestic economic growth, it says.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The procurement plan covers the acquisition of the jets and their equipment, as well as the acquisition, maintenance, development and manufacture of ancillary systems, the act says.
The cost is to be covered by a special budget of up to NT$250 billion, which would come from loans and surplus revenue from the previous fiscal year, it says.
The budget may be tapped to cover the central government’s running expenses, the act says.
If the expenditure exceeds the approved budget due to currency fluctuations, an item should be proposed in the general budget to cover the shortfall, it says.
The act has a Dec. 31, 2026, deadline.
Also passed were supplementary resolutions sponsored by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the New Power Party (NPP) and the People First Party (PFP).
The KMT’s motion says that as the National Defense Industry Development Act (國防產業發展條例) was passed in June, the Ministry of National Defense should ask the US to transfer technologies used to make F-16V parts and components, and lobby for US approval to allow Taiwan to manufacture key F-16V components.
The nation should also establish an “F-16 Asian maintenance center” after the jets have been delivered, it says.
The NPP’s motion says the ministry should report annually to the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee about the delivery progress of the jets, technological collaborations with the US and logistics to receive the jets.
The PFP’s motion says the government should ask the foreign manufacturer of the jets — Lockheed Martin Corp — to invest in industrial collaborations with Taiwan, including component manufacturing, technological transfers and industrial upgrade initiatives.
The defense ministry and the Ministry of Economic Affairs should work together to secure private-sector resources for the national defense industry, the motion says.
The F-16Vs are expected to be deployed at Chihhang Air Base (志航空軍基地) in Taitung County, while the air force plans to set up a combat squad of up to 1,000 personnel, military sources said.
Minister of National Defense Yen De-fa (嚴德發) said that the nation should receive the first batch of F-16Vs in 2023 and all 66 jets before the end of 2026.
Additional reporting by CNA
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
RSS