Forum: F-16 News

Bjorn, you're wrong. The BLK-20 does have color MFD's, it came with them standard equipment.

The jets were not delivered until beginning of 1997. Taiwan spirals their own M-tapes.

I know, I flew the airplane for 3 years training the Taiwan pilots at LUF.

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OK, new info for me. I didn't know the Taiwanese had their own subset of M-tapes. In that case the predecessing discussion has been wrong and those airframes should be up to par with the other MLU airframes. In that case I also have questions about an MLU package to these jets is usefull? Unless some of the more advanced features of the European MLU package have been left out for the Taiwanese up till now.

Greets,

To me the big difference between the F-16A and the F-16AM and Taiwan Block 20 is the introduction of the MMC. When I say that the Block 20 is a "production" MLU aircraft I mean that it came from the factory with MMC and AIFF installed. Even with EPAF MLU aircraft, the MMC and AIFF came first and then JHMCS, Link-16, and other goodies came later.

The Taiwan jets have the distinct advantage of having a (structurally) more sound airframe, incorporating many of the improvements (lessons learned) from the Block 40 and 50 airframes.

So (stretching a little bit) if you added JHMCS, Link-16, etc., to a Block 20, you are pretty close to a Block 50 except for DFLCS and APG-66 radar. Although you could slap in one of NG's or Raytheon's new drop-in radars and bring the jets into the 21st century, you would still be stuck with analog flight controls (not that there's anything wrong with that.)

Best Regards,

So it sounds like RoCAF aircraft need a post MLU upgrade. If I were Taiwan, I'd ask for the following:

- SABR or RACR upgrade
- F100-PW-229 engines
- Link-16
- JHMCS

66 F-16C/D Block 52 Plus would make a great follow on order in addition to the upgrades. That would give the RoCAF over 200 advanced F-16s

Quote:

Taiwan wavers on F-16 deal
AFP - May 7, 2013, 3:24 am

Taiwan said Monday that it needs fighter jets which are more advanced than the upgraded F-16 announced by the United States, suggesting that it was dropping its bid for dozens of the aircraft.

[...]

Taiwan's Defence Minister Kao Hua-chu said for the first time Monday that Taipei will not necessarily take the deal even if Washington gives the nod.

"Our demand has changed following the announcement of the upgrade project. The jet fighters we buy in the future have to outperform the F-16 upgrades if we (are) to convince the tax payers," he told parliament.

Analysts said the remark marks a key shift in Taipei's approach to the arms deal that has apparently been held off due to Washington's concerns about reaction from Beijing.

"To some extent, this is a signal that Taiwan no longer wants to continue with the F-16 deal," Kevin Cheng, editor-in-chief of the Taipei-based Asia-Pacific Defense Magazine, told AFP.

"The military is not likely to want everything while facing a budget constraints. Now the deal is like a chicken rib, which is of little value, considering the air force's long-term demand."

Although the upgrade package was less than Taiwan had hoped for, it triggered an angry response from China, which warned that Sino-US military ties would be hurt as a result.

[...]

Source: <a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/17043257/taiwan-wavers-on-f-16-deal/" rel="nofollow">http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/17043257/taiwan-wavers-on-f-16-deal/</a>

The US is being STUPID! Give the Taiwanese the MLU upgrades and brand new F-16s. The US sounds like idiots Taiwan doesn't even want to deal with now.

Is there anywhere they can buy 2nd hand F-16C/D Block 40 jets, if another country wants Block 50+ jets instead?

I'm not sure the USAF would be able to spare any siginificant number of Block 40s, unless they were basically boneyard rebuilds. Take a Block 40 jet, rebuild the main structure components, avionics etc. but call it a F-16 Block 40+ jet so that we can at least tell China that we didn't give them our latest gear.

Personally, I think with 450+ Advanced 4th Gen fighters in the PLAAF fleet, the Chinese should just be quiet and accept 66 new F-16C/Ds for RoCAF According to Wikipedia, 200 J10s + ~250 Flankers. Are they kidding? In real capability, they are probably 2nd behind the USAF in numbers of Advanced 4th gen fighters.

Forum: F-16 News

66 F-16C/Ds to Taiwan?