Taiwan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
according to The National Interest (dated November 28, 2018) Taiwan Gives Up On F-35, Turns to F-16V Option
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Taipei has a new idea instead: the release of sixty-six F-16V Block 70 fighters, with an additional six aircraft to replace crashed F-16A/B Block 20s (seventy-two total aircraft).

TAIPEI - Taiwan’s air force will cease campaigning for
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and will, instead, reissue a request to the U.S. government for F-16 fighters.

The new proposal will push for the release of sixty-six F-16V Block 70 fighters, with an additional six aircraft to replace crashed F-16A/B Block 20s (seventy-two total aircraft).

This is, in part, a resurrection of an abandoned effort to procure sixty-six F-16C/D Block 50/52s killed by the Obama administration due to Chinese pressure. Beijing had dubbed the sale of new F-16s to Taiwan a “red line” and has repeatedly threatened to invade the self-ruled island.

The new campaign will also request co-production and performance-based logistics (PBL) as part of the overall package. PBL would improve combat effectiveness by 80 percent, say Taiwan defense industry sources.

One source said PBL was a “critical part of the package…we must have it.”

The package is consistent with
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that mandates local production of weapon systems that in the past were procured only from the United States. In part, the policy weens Taiwan away from dependency on the United States for weapon sales that are often influenced by Washington’s fickle relationship with Beijing.

Local sources also want the PBL to expand later to include Taiwan’s current F-16 upgrade effort. Taiwan procured 150 F-16A/B Block 20 fighters in the 1990s and is currently upgrading them to F-16V as part of the $5 billion Phoenix Rising Program.

The PBL could later be expanded for the fleet of twenty C-130H Hercules cargo/transport aircraft and twelve P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, all Lockheed Martin products.

The air force is also upgrading its Indigenous Defense Fighters (IDF) under a program that will allow the IDF to carry more munitions and replace its radar and combat computer. Taiwan is down to 126 aircraft from the original 130 due to crashes. It was constructed in the 1990s by state-run Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) in Taichung, which is also participating in the F-16V upgrade program.

AIDC is currently manufacturing a new advanced jet trainer (AJT) to replace its ageing AT-3 and F-5 fighter trainers. The new AJT, expected to roll-out in late 2019, is loosely based on the IDF design. AIDC plans to build sixty-six aircraft with operational deployment in 2026.

The air force turned its back on pursuing
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due to a recent Taiwan National Security Council report. It indicated the stealth fighter was too exorbitant and untested in real combat to be a pragmatic choice for Taiwan.

There are also suspicions in Taiwan that opposition to the sale of a fifth-generation fighter would be raised in Washington over secrecy issues, as mainland Chinese espionage on the island is rampant.

The STOVL option was originally considered a practical requirement due to
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aimed at Taiwan. Military analysts in Taiwan and Washington predict that the air bases will be pummeled during the initial phase of a war.

However, Taiwan still needs an advanced fighter aircraft capability to maintain sovereignty and control of its air space, especially as China begins testing the island’s air defense capabilities with fighter and bomber aircraft sorties that now circumnavigate the island.

Taiwan will also retire its ageing Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft due to high maintenance costs and to make room in the budget for new F-16s. Of the sixty fighters France sold Taiwan in the 1990s, fifty-six remain operational. “We would like to resale the Mirage fighters to a third country,” said one source.
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TerraN_EmpirE

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
Jura said:
according to The National Interest (dated November 28, 2018) Taiwan Gives Up On F-35, Turns to F-16V Option
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Click to expand...
Just like their Army turned it's back on Abrams buys.
Basically the U.S. said that for the near term it's unlikely to happen try again down the road.
Besides although the PLAAF has J20 it's not fully mission ready.
 
plawolf

plawolf

Lieutenant General
TerraN_EmpirE said:
Just like their Army turned it's back on Abrams buys.
Basically the U.S. said that for the near term it's unlikely to happen try again down the road.
Besides although the PLAAF has J20 it's not fully mission ready.
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Such sales need to satisfy Taiwan’s defence needs for decades to come. So the current mission capability of the J20 is really a poor metric unless Taiwan wants to declare independence tomorrow.

In all likelihood, the J20 would reach full combat capabilities before any of these new F16s.

Although I would expect Trump to try and use arms sales to Taiwan as a bargaining chip with China on the trade war, so it would not be surprising as if America starts hinting at F35s again soon. Since such tactics are pretty standard when America tries to get concessions from China for nothing by first creating the problem they then offer to ‘fix’ in exchange for said concessions.
 
Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
Today at 7:43 AM
Jura said:
according to The National Interest (dated November 28, 2018) Taiwan Gives Up On F-35, Turns to F-16V Option
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related:
Taiwan plans purchase of 66 F-16V fighter jets: report
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Taiwan scraps plan to buy F-35 fighters, refocuses on F-16V

Taiwan’s military has abandoned its plan to buy a number of F-35 fighter jets from the U.S., and will instead continue to consider a potential purchase of 66 F-16V fighter jets, reports suggest.

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reported rumors suggesting that 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.

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 U.S. by the end of the year, reports suggest.

The U.S. 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 U.S. 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
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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
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, with the project expected to be completed before 2022.
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G

gelgoog

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
The program to upgrade the F-16's should have been done years ago. The fact that it took until Obama was president to make the upgrades available was simply put ridiculous. My problem with the F-35 is that Taiwan would be better served with air and sea denial capabilities like land based surface-to-sea missiles and surface-to-air missiles than with something like that. The USA would be better off selling them whichever latest air defense systems they have.
 
TerraN_EmpirE

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
gelgoog said:
The program to upgrade the F-16's should have been done years ago. The fact that it took until Obama was president to make the upgrades available was simply put ridiculous
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Administrations are wishy washy on Arms to Taiwan. The Obama admin went back and forward on the sales canceling and reopening. Several times.
gelgoog said:
My problem with the F-35 is that Taiwan would be better served with air and sea denial capabilities like land based surface-to-sea missiles and surface-to-air missiles than with something like that.
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The problem is that U.S. antiship missiles are either air or sea launched. We never really bothered with ground based until recently.
I mean in theory you could ground base harpoon but why bother? It's fairly short range at 70 miles.
The other Antiship missile the U.S. has right now is the LRASM again air and sea launched. But it uses Mk41 VLS. The Taiwanese don't have that on there old Kid class. They have a ship that trailed it.
The US could look into LRASM from a ground launcher because of the INF treaty.
So you would again need a launcher. Problem for setting up such is the opening of any PLA invasion will be launching short to intermediate ballistic missiles.
The U.S. has blocked sale of Patriot to Taiwan but assisted in building an local anti ballistic missile system. Why? Because we still are trying to deal with the PRC. And if we installed the full Patriot or MEADS in Taiwan the CCP would go Ape $----. I mean they hubbub they threw when the US installed THAAD in South Korea was nothing compared to what would happen then let alone THAAD or AEGIS ashore. Additionally the Chinese would swarm more missiles. The 300 scene comes to mind. Xi covered in gold paint like a 24k Whinny the Pu promising to blot out the sun with missiles. The Taiwanese joking about fighting in the shade.

The reason the Taiwanese want F35 is because of the F35B. It can fire antiship missiles and take off without worry about a cratered runway.

Surface to air missiles are little use if they are overwhelmed and mobile Antiship missile attacks from the air are better then blown up on a beach.
 
TerraN_EmpirE

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
Joint strike missile a variant of the Naval strike missile
And LRASM are both targeted for F35.
Theoretically if you don't mind external carry and a software patch you could carry a harpoon.
 
Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
TerraN_EmpirE said:
Joint strike missile a variant of the Naval strike missile
And LRASM are both targeted for F35.
Theoretically if you don't mind external carry and a software patch you could carry a harpoon.
Click to expand...
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:
The F35A and C will be capable of internal carry of the Norwegian Naval Strike Missile which has been in service since 2012 but this is too large for the shortened internal weapon bays of the UK’s F35B, suggesting that a weapon will either need to be carried externally – impacting on the F35’s stealth but permitting a wider range of armament choice – or an alternative missile will need to be found for internal carriage.
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