Defense News
09/20/2011
Taiwan Official
Suggests F-35 As Future Alternative
By WENDELL MINNICK
TAIPEI - In response
to news the U.S. has decided to decline Taiwan's request for new F-16C/D
fighter aircraft, Andrew Yang, Taiwan's deputy minister of defense for policy,
said the air force would consider the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in future
discussions with the U.S.
Taiwan has requested
66 F-16C/D fighter aircraft and a mid-life upgrade (MLU) package for 146 older
F-16A/B fighters. However, due to pressure from China, the U.S. had declined
Taiwan's request for new C/Ds. The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency is
expected to release the Congressional notification this week for the A/B MLU.
The specter of
declining U.S. support for Taiwan's defense needs has rattled the Ministry of
National Defense, which has become reliant on U.S. arms exports as others, such
as Europe and Israel, have sided with China to curry economic and political
advantages.
Yang's comments were
made at the sidelines of the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Richmond,
Virginia, on Sept. 18, and generated a flurry of media reports and speculation
about Taiwan's interest in the F-35. "He spoke in the context of if the US
refuses to sell C/Ds then the debate moves on to F-35s. It doesn't go
away," said Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president, US-Taiwan Business Council
and sponsor of the conference.
Yang was one of three
keynote speakers at the 2011 conference, including Peter Lavoy, Acting
Assistant Secretary for Asian & Pacific Security Affairs, U.S. Department
of Defense, and Paul Wolfowitz, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense from
2001-2005 and chairman of the US-Taiwan Business Council.
Over the past ten
years, Taiwan has expressed interest in both the vertical/short take-off and/or
landing (V/STOL) AV-8B Harrier jump jet and the F-35B short take-off and
vertical landing (STOVL) fighter to cope with the anticipated destruction of
conventional runways by China's arsenal of 1,300 short-range ballistic
missiles.
Taiwan submitted a
letter of intent (LOI) for a briefing on future price and availability
(P&A) data for the F-35 in May 2002. In the LOI, obtained by Defense News,
the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) requested
P&A data for 120 F-35B STOVL aircraft. TECRO is Taiwan's de facto embassy
in Washington, D.C.
The letter said
China's air breathing and theater missile capability threatens Taiwan's ability
to maintain air superiority. "The primary purpose of this acquisition is
to provide a credible response capability in the event that our air bases
become non-functional due to initial air, missile, and special operations force
attack," the LOI said.
A Taiwan defense
industry source said the MND modified its requirement in 2004 with a bolder
request for 60 F-35B STOVL and 150 F-35A conventional take-off and landing
aircraft.
A former Taiwan air
force official confirmed the 2002 request. "The difficult part will be the
budget, qualified people and the political situation," he said.
"Taiwan's air force cannot solve these problems by themselves, so I really
doubt … they can make it."
The decline of the
F-16C/D is one of three high-profile weapon systems Taiwan has failed to secure
from the U.S. over the past decade, including Aegis-equipped Arleigh
Burke-class destroyers and diesel-electric attack submarines.
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