Forum: F-16 News

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U.S. says no new F-16's to Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A U.S. decision not to sell Taiwan new F-16 fighter jets is being seen by many U.S. allies in Asia as a sign of China's growing clout.

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The top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, Kurt Campbell, publicly confirmed in New York on Wednesday that the Obama administration will upgrade Taiwan's existing fleet of F-16s, postponing for now the sale of new models that Taipei sought. The decision brought a swift, angry denunciation from Beijing, where Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun summoned U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke to warn that exchanges between the militaries, security cooperation and overall ties will suffer.

[...]

Even before news of the decision became final, Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, where the Lockheed Martin plant that would have built the new F-16s is located, described it as a slap in the face to a strong ally, and Howard Berman, the ranking Democrat on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, called it a "half-measure."

[...]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-no-taiwan-arms ... 14713.html

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Arms sale to Taiwan may fray China ties
Monday, September 19, 2011

The study concludes that Taiwan's military should buy short-takeoff and vertical-landing jets such as the British-design AV-8B Harrier jump jet or the new F-35B vertical-takeoff version, according to the officials familiar with the aircraft.

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Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... #pagebreak

ROCAF AV-8B or F-35B?

tbarlow wrote:

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[b]
Even before news of the decision became final, Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, where the Lockheed Martin plant that would have built the new F-16s is located, described it as a slap in the face to a strong ally, and Howard Berman, the ranking Democrat on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, called it a "half-measure."

[...]

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-no-taiwan-arms ... 14713.html

There you go! It's all about US jobs again. Nothing to do with actual defense needs.

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There you go! It's all about US jobs again. Nothing to do with actual defense needs.

We're selling Patriot missiles and Apache helicopters to China, defense needs are still there. I haven't read anything about opposition to selling Taiwan those platforms. I could see those as being more for defense and less of a threat to China. I do believe the PAC-3 system has the range to knock down Chinese aircraft over their mainland and Apaches can certainly conduct attacks on the mainland as well. So, you never know. I would imagine China is aware of the extended range capabilities of newer F-16Cs given they are compatible with CFTs. I would say that is the biggest threat to the mainland. Overall, I think it's mixture of everything, politics, jobs, and defense needs. We can't be everywhere at once. If China decides to go after Taiwan, they need enough hardware to repel them until allies arrive.

] Apaches can certainly conduct attacks on the mainland as well.

The Taiwan Strait looks a bit wide for attack heloes to cross, IMO.

] We're selling Patriot missiles and Apache helicopters to China,

USA sold Black Hawk helicopters to China.

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The Taiwan Strait looks a bit wide for attack heloes to cross, IMO.

Not with extra fuel. They'd make it just fine, but would have a hell of a time crossing the strait without being detected.

I seriously doubt many Blackhawks are flying. They've been denied parts for a long time.

Would the Russian agree to sell their latest version of the Flanker family to the ROC? ROC have enough $ to spend - and I would think the Russians are upset enough with the PRC stealing their IP by building J-11.

It would add another logistical burden to the ROC AF, but they've done that before when they purchased the Mirages.