Taiwan Government News, While Taiwan is planning to increase its defense budget to cope with military threats from China, the Ministry of National Defense is assessing a plan to buy sixty-six F-16 C/D fighters from the United States for NT$130 billion (US$4 billion) in order to strengthen its air defense capabilities.
The deal was proposed in response to President Chen Shui-bian's plan to increase the percentage of the defense budget from 2.4 percent to 2.85 percent of Taiwan's GDP in fiscal year 2007, a local Chinese-language newspaper quoted sources in the MND as saying on Thursday.
The opposition Kuomintang and People First Party, which together hold a slim majority in the Legislature, said they are not opposed to buying new weapons as long as the money for this purpose is included in the annual budget.
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Taiwan needs F-16 C/D fighters to help maintain its air supremacy in the Taiwan Strait, as chances of acquiring new generation fighters being developed in the United States are slim in the next 10 to 15 years, said an MND official.
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The budget for buying the F-16 C/D Block 52 fighters would likely appear alongside other budgets for the purchase of eight diesel-fueled traditional submarines, 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft, and eight batteries of PAC-III missiles in next year's defense budget to be sent to the Legislature for screening later this year.
The sources said once the deal is concluded Taiwan will also begin technical cooperation with P&W Co. for the manufacture, assembly and maintenance of P100 PW engines for F-16 fighters in Taiwan. A P&W executive expressed confidence in cooperation with Taiwan's aerospace industry after checking on its production lines and other facilities.
Taiwan needs F-16 C/D fighters to help maintain its air supremacy in the Taiwan Strait, as chances of acquiring new generation fighters being developed in the United States are slim in the next 10 to 15 years, said an MND official.
Presently the Taiwan Air Force has a fleet of 340 second-generation fighters, including F-16s, Mirage-2000s, and IDF-3 fighters. In addition, it has first generation 70-80 F-5E fighters that will be replaced in the next ten years.
The F-16 C/D fighters are equipped with F100-PW229 engines that have greater thrust than the F100-PW200 engines on Taiwan's F-16 fighters. The new fighters would be replacing the F-5E fighters that have been in service for 20 years, and part of Taiwan's Mirage 2000 fighter fleet known for its high maintenance costs.
The proposed deal was raised in a recent military workshop held in Washington in February, with the participation of foreign service and military officers as well as defense industry representatives from the United States and Taiwan. Most of the participants agreed that Taiwan should have F-16 C/D fighters to cope with China's military buildup.
Among other weapons on Taiwan's priority procurement list are naval anti-aircraft missiles for the country's new frigates and 30 AH-64 and S-Z assault helicopters for the formation of an army squadron of airborne rangers.
The budget for buying these new weapons would exceed NT$200 billion if the 66 F-16 C/D fighters is included. These costs will be evenly distributed in annual defense budgets over the next 6-8 years.
