US-based Lockheed Martin Corp announced on Monday it has been awarded a US$1.85 billion contract by the US government to initiate the upgrade of Taiwan’s 145 Block 20 F-16A/B fighter jets.
The multi-year retrofit is part of a US$5.2 billion package notified to US Congress in September last year and will include Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, embedded global positioning and upgrades to the electronic warfare systems and avionics.
The defense firm, which will also be the prime integrator for the upgrade of 300 US Air Force (USAF) F-16s, said both programs would be based on the F-16V, for “Viper,” configuration. The new version, the result of input from the USAF and foreign clients, was unveiled at the Singapore Air Show.
“Lockheed Martin looks forward to a continued partnership with the Republic of China in upgrading their F-16s,” Jeff Babione, vice president and general manager of the F-16/F-22 Integrated Fighter Group at Lockheed, was quoted as saying.
“Based on elements of the F-16V configuration, Taiwan’s air force will receive the most advanced F-16 upgrades. This program reinforces the strong value proposition associated with commonality between the USAF F-16 program and the worldwide F-16 user community,” he said in a press release.
George Standridge, vice president of business development at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said the technologies involved in the F-16V could help customers better interoperate with fifth-generation aircraft, such as the F-35 and F-22.
Lockheed spokeswoman Laura Siebert said about 200 people will work on the contract.
All the engineering work will be done in Fort Worth, Texas, and work on a number of aircraft will be conducted there initially, the Star Telegram reported. However, the bulk of the upgrade work will be done in Taiwan, where Aerospace Industrial Development Corp, which signed a memorandum of understanding with the US firm earlier this year, will install the upgrade kits delivered by Lockheed. Upgrades will be performed on 24 aircraft at a time, with installation starting in 2016 and delivery of the first upgraded jets by 2021.
Two firms, Raytheon Corp and Northrop Grumman Corp, are competing for the AESA contract.
Taiwan and the US signed a US$3.7 billion letter of acceptance for the upgrade package in July. Industry sources told the Taipei Times that Taipei remains committed to the US$5.2 billion program.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established a friendship group with their counterparts in Ukraine to promote parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. A ceremony in Taipei for the Taiwan-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Association, initiated by DPP Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷), was attended by lawmakers and officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) and European Economic and Trade Office in Taiwan Director Lutz Gullner. The increasingly dire situation in Ukraine is a global concern, and Taiwan cannot turn its back when the latter is in need of help, as the two countries share many common values and interests,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
RSS