Taiwan is likely to consider buying 66 F-16V fighters instead of F-35 jets to replace its ageing F-5 fleet.
The fleet of F-5 fighter jets at Zhi-Hang Air Base in Taitung County will be retired and replaced by 66 F-16V jets to strengthen the region’s defense against Chinese warships and other threats, United Daily News (UDN) reported Wednesday.
The Taiwan military began investigating the potential F16-V purchase in August, and the Ministry of National Defense hopes to request a prospective quote from the US by the end of the year, reports suggest.
The US is open to the possibility of licensing to Taiwan the intellectual property and production line expertise relative to F-16V production, posing an opportunity for Taiwanese industry development and employment, reports suggest.
Air Force Command Headquarters told UDN that any potential weapon procurement is judged against enemy capability and operational needs.
The Taiwan Government is expected to request a quote for the 66 proposed F-16V fighters, with the US expected to confirm price and availability in the middle of 2019. This would then lead to payments taking place through the Ministry of National Defence's budget for 2020.
According to international prices, the sale of 66 F-16V fighters would amount to around US$10 billion (NT$308.98 billion). The price would be greater if Taiwan was to manufacturer the jet in Taiwan, reported UDN.
In January 2017, the Taiwan Air Force began to upgrade its existing fleet of 145 F-16A/B fighters at a total cost of NT$110 billion (US$3.46 billion). The first of these upgraded fighters took to the skies in Oct. 2018, with the project expected to be completed before 2022.
Taiwan commissioned two United States-made Perry-class guided missile frigates Thursday which come equipped with an advanced Sonar system to detect Chinese submarines in the Taiwan Strait. The frigates were built in the 1980s and served the US Navy as USS Taylor and USS Gary
Taiwan has hired a Gibraltar based design firm, Gavron Limited to create blueprints to build 8 indigenous submarines expected to cost NT$500 billion (US$16.13 billion)
The first upgraded F-16 fighter jet, known as the F-16 Viper or F-16V, has been delivered to the Taiwan Air Force by state-owned aviation firm Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC)
The armed forces of Taiwan yesterday conducted large-scale air, land and sea exercises from 5am to 8am on Monday as a response to a simulated Chinese invasion. The drill put into practice air and anti-air components of the ‘war plan,' which the armed forces have drawn according to experience derived from past Han Kuang military exercises, an official told
The Taiwanese Air Force in cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Sciences is studying on how to reverse engineer the General Electric J85 small single-shaft turbojet engines from its decommissioned F-5E/F fighters to reuse them in missiles. Due to the strong engine thrust, it can provide a speed of Mach 1
United Technologies is awarded a $400 million modification contract for performance based logistics sustainment in support of the F-35 Lightning II F135 propulsion system for the United States Navy; US Air Force; US Marine Corps; Non-US Department of Defense (DOD) participants, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. This modification provides for maintenance of support equipment; common program activities; unique and common base recurring sustainment; repair of repairable; field service representatives; common replenishment spares; conventional take-off and landing/carrier variant F135 unique maintenance services, and short take-off and landing F135 unique services, the US department of defense said in a statement
BAE, Army Research Lab Develop Tech to Automate Heavy Weld Operations for...
BAE to Develop Cyber Tools to Secure DARPA's Electronic Data
US Army's Precision Strike Missile Completes First Flight Test
Leidos Nets $6.52B to Sustain Pentagon's Information Network
Germany To Finalise Order for 38 Eurofighter Jets, 110 E-Scan Radars
Turkish Navy to get First Indigenous Aircraft Carrier in 2020
Bechtel Bags US Navy's $1.4Bn Naval Nuclear Propulsion Components Contract
Indian Air Force to Buy 83 Tejas Jets by March 2020
Several joint production and direct procurement programs could be halted if the US and Europe carry through with their threat...
Sanctions-hit Iran has found ingenious ways to develop military hardware
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly permeating the defence industry to aid and improve human decision-making
Upgrade of Russias Sukhoi Su-30SM fighters to equip them with armaments, radar, sensors and engines from the more powerful Su-35...
US companies sanctioned by China for supplying weapons to Taiwan may be denied rare earth elements (REEs), which have critical...
While the US F-35 stealth aircraft has become one the fastest selling fighter jets in the world aircraft market, thanks...