Eighteen Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods (ATP) are included in the US arms package for Taiwan announced last week, which would enhance the ground-attack capabilities of F-16 jets in day or night missions, Lockheed Martin Co said on Saturday.
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and Department of State on Monday announced that a proposal to sell arms worth US$330 million to upgrade Taiwan’s defensive capabilities had been sent to the US Congress.
The sale is to cover standard spare parts and the repair or replacement of spare parts in support of F-16s, C-130 cargo planes, F-5s and Aerospace Industrial Development Corp’s Indigenous Defense Fighters, the agency said.
Taipei last year started negotiating with Washington to procure spare parts for the planes, and the air force is in charge of signing letters of agreement, arranging timetables and the budgets, the Ministry of National Defense said.
While the ministry has not released details of just what is to be included in the arms package, Lockheed Martin said it included the ATPs.
The platform’s image processing capabilities allow aircrew to detect, identify and engage targets from altitudes above 4,572m, a huge improvement over the Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night ATP system the air force now uses, sources said, adding that ATPs would greatly enhance attack efficacy and reduce collateral damage.
According to an F-16 performance upgrade budget the ministry submitted to the Legislative Yuan, the government set aside NT$2.57 billion (US$84.12 million) for the ATPs.
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