Taiwan is expected to spend NT$250 billion (US$7.96 billion) to buy 66 F-16V jets, which will put the cost of a single aircraft at a relatively cheap price of about US$121.7 million, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said, using a conversion rate of NT$30.94 to US$1.
The US Department of State on Aug. 20 approved the sale, but the deal has to clear the US Congress before the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency officially makes it public.
The process will be completed once the US and Taiwan sign a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA).
A military source yesterday said that the Ministry of National Defense has finished drafting a budget for the sale, which will be sent to the Executive Yuan and then the Legislative Yuan for review.
If everything goes smoothly, Taiwan is expected to sign the LOA before the end of this year, send it back to Washington to finalize the deal, and take delivery of all 66 jets by 2026, the source said.
The air force has sent representatives to lobby lawmakers to approve the deal in the legislative session that begins this month, the source added, while the DPP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) have said they would most likely approve the budget.
Citing data provided by the air force, Wang said the price that Taiwan is proposing to pay is less than the average price paid by Bahrain, Slovakia, Morocco and Bulgaria, about US$149 million per F-16V.
DPP Legislator Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) said the sale is a bargain because it is the cheapest F-16Vs the US has sold since 2009.
The ministry also intends to spend NT$778 million over the next five years to build the latest locally developed eight-wheeled armored vehicles, which would be equipped with 105mm guns.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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