The US Department of Defense on Monday said that it has no plans to send F-16 jets scheduled for delivery to Taiwan to Poland instead, calling speculation raised by a US media report “not accurate.”
The comments by Pentagon spokesman John Kirby followed a report in the New York Times on Sunday, which said that the administration of US President Joe Biden was exploring ways to supply Polish Soviet-made fighter jets to Ukraine to aid in its war against Russia, as Ukrainian pilots are more familiar with Russian-made jets.
One option was to send US-made F-16s to Poland as replacements, the report said, although “Polish officials seemed less than enthusiastic.”
Photo: CNA
With the next tranche of F-16s for export set to go to Taiwan, those fighter jets were an option, the report said, adding that US officials were reluctant to delay Taiwan’s F-16 program.
Asked in a CNN interview on Monday whether F-16 jets meant for Taiwan could be provided to Poland, Kirby replied: “That rumor is not accurate.”
However, he did acknowledge that Washington would not “stand in the way” if any nation did want to provide fighter jets to Ukraine.
In that regard, the US has started to have conversations about how it could “backfill,” or replace, jets transferred to Ukraine by another nation, including “what kind of aircraft, where would they come from and how do you get them,” Kirby said.
However, he said that the US did not have “any answers” at the moment and that there was “no proposal on the table.”
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday confirmed that the administration has been consulting with Poland and other NATO allies on the possibility of transferring jets to Ukraine, but said the decision was ultimately up to Warsaw.
Aside from the question of how to transfer Polish jets to Ukraine, the issue of providing replacement jets to Poland was also logistically complex, given that procuring new planes and transferring weapons systems often takes years, Psaki said.
Washington in 2019 approved the sale of 66 F-16Vs to Taiwan in an US$8 billion deal, with delivery expected to start next year and extend through 2026.
The 66 F-16Vs are to be deployed at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung County.
Meanwhile, Taiwan is also upgrading its F-16A/B jets to the more advanced F-16V format.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
RSS