Taiwan overdue for F-16 jets, ex U.S. official say

Reuters ^ | 7/6/2010 | Jim Wolf

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

The United States is "way past due" to meet Taiwan's request for updated F-16 fighter jets to help plug a growing gap with China, said a former U.S. official overseeing Air Force programs designed to help the self-governing island keep up its defences.

"Acquiring new F-16s, in my view, is about maintaining the very same deterrent capability that we helped Taiwan achieve in the late 1990s," Bruce Lemkin told Reuters in an interview.

Lemkin, who resigned on June 19 after nearly seven years as the Air Force's deputy under secretary for international affairs, led Air Force efforts to build partnerships worldwide. These included programs in Taiwan in line with a law that has governed U.S. arms sales to the island since 1979, when U.S. diplomatic ties shifted from Taipei to Beijing.

China regards Taiwan as a rogue province, subject to unification with the mainland if necessary by force.

Beijing halted military exchanges with the United States after President Barack Obama's administration announced plans in January for a potential $6.4 billion arms package, all but clearing the books on sales committed to since 2001 by former President George W. Bush.

Lemkin said in an email exchange that Taiwan's ability to defend its skies had "degraded appreciably" as 145 U.S.-supplied F-16A/Bs and other fighters have aged.

Mike Hammer, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said the Obama administration was working with Taiwan to evaluate its defense needs.

[James C. Bennett]

Taiwan overdue for F-16 jets, ex-U.S. officials say

But Pakistan just got their spanking new F-16s (four days ago). And they promise to not use them against India.

LOL.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Ping

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Ping

[JSteff]

All Taiwan's F16’s would be gone in what... a single week or maybe a couple of days anyway. Seems almost senseless because under our current regime we are not going to help them.

[Tainan]

The gentleman speaks the truth.
The A/B models are down to duct tape and baling wire. The Mirages are using old cheese and somebody took home the CMM, IPC/IPB and SRM for the IDFs and never brought it back to the hangar.

You might note he waited until after he retired to do so.
The fun never stops in the renegade province.

[artaxerces]

I read somewhere that the entire Taiwanese air force only as around 100 operational fighters left now. The rest are either inoperable due to the lack of spare parts or have been cannibalized to keep the rest of the fleet running.