The US is looking for ways to accelerate delivery of Taiwan’s next generation of newly built F-16 jets, US officials said, bolstering the Taiwanese air force’s ability to respond to what Taipei and Washington see as increasing intimidation by the Chinese military.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that they have not yet come up with a solution on how to speed up delivery of Block 70 F-16s, manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp and equipped with new capabilities.
The aircraft are slated to be delivered by the end of 2026.
Photo: Patrick Lin, REUTERS
Taipei has privately expressed its wish for a faster delivery to US President Joe Biden’s administration, a senior Taiwanese official said, as the nation’s air force scrambles jets to intercept increasingly aggressive Chinese military flights.
“It’s all about risk assessment ... and it’s clear where the risks are,” the Taiwanese official said, referring to tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
The F-16 is considered a highly maneuverable aircraft proven in air-to-air combat and air-to-surface attack.
Taiwan is on track to field one of the largest F-16 fleets in Asia once it takes delivery of 66 newly built F-16C/D Block 70 aircraft under an US$8 billion deal approved in 2019.
It would bring the nation’s total number of F-16s, including older versions, to more than 200 by 2026.
Any move to accelerate deliveries of new aircraft could ultimately come down to a determination by Biden’s administration that Taiwan’s defense needs are more urgent than those of other US allies and partners, experts say.
“That’s a Biden administration decision,” said Rupert Hammond-Chambers, the president of the US-Taiwan Business Council, an organization that encourages trade and business ties between the countries. “They would have to decide that the threat from China was more important than the threat from Iran or the threat from the Russians.”
The Block 70 aircraft are the newest F-16 configuration, with new avionics, a modernized cockpit and an improved engine, Lockheed Martin said.
A move to accelerate the aircraft delivery would be seen in Beijing in part through a political lens, former US deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia Abraham Denmark said.
“It is yet another clear signal of US determination to support Taiwan’s ability to defend itself,” said Denmark, who is an analyst at the Washington-based Wilson Center think tank.
Despite lacking formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the US is its main international backer and arms supplier.
Lockheed Martin declined to comment on any potential future requests to change the production schedule, referring queries to the Ministry of National Defense and the US government.
The US Department of State, which oversees foreign military sales, declined to comment on any internal discussions about potential changes to the delivery timeline.
Lockheed Martin’s new F-16 production line in Greenville, South Carolina, has several customers in the production queue ahead of Taiwan, including Bahrain, Slovakia and Bulgaria.
The US government has not asked Lockheed Martin for delivery timeline changes for the Taiwanese F-16 jets, a person familiar with the situation said.
The source declined to speculate about how much sooner Taiwan could get new-build F-16s even if a decision were made to accelerate deliveries. Any such effort would be complicated by production constraints, which include long lead times to source materials for Taiwan’s specific configuration of fighter aircraft.
Taiwan’s air force did not respond to questions on potential accelerated deliveries, but said in a statement that the military’s major weapon purchases are “rigorously planned in accordance with actual combat needs and planning schedules.”
The US sale of F-16s was guided by US law and “based on an assessment of Taiwan’s defense needs and the threat posed by [China], as has been the case for more than 40 years,” a Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement.
The missions to intercept Chinese aircraft are putting stress on Taiwan’s air force, which last year had several mishaps, including three fatal crashes.
Fuel costs, pilot fatigue and wear and tear on aircraft threaten the readiness of the air force if this pressure continues, Taiwanese and US military analysts said.
The air force last week suspended combat training for its entire F-16 fleet after a recently upgraded model of the jet crashed into the sea in the latest of a series of accidents.
“They [the Chinese] are wearing out their opponent without firing a shot,” said Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation.
The air force in 2020 scrambled 2,972 times against Chinese aircraft at a cost of NT$25.5 billion (US$920.51 million).
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
RSS