US finalizes sale of 66 F-16 fighters to Taiwan as China tensions escalate

The new F-16s, recognised as the F-16V or Viper, will be manufactured at Lockheed Martin factories in Greenville, South Carolina, and Fort Worthy of, Texas. They will be the latest, upgraded designs of the one-engine aircraft which to start with flew with the US Air Power in the late 1970s. They will be a part of about 140 some others previously in the Taiwanese fleet.

“The sale of F-16s to Taiwan sends a solid information about the US determination to safety and democracy in the Indo-Pacific,” Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel of New York and Republican Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas said in a joint assertion past August.

Then later in the 7 days, the People’s Liberation Army announced it had staged military services drills at each the northern and southern conclusion of the Taiwan Strait. The workout routines had been “a required transfer responding to the present-day protection scenario in the Taiwan Straits and had been meant to safeguard countrywide sovereignty,” reported spokesperson for the PLA’s Jap Theater Command, Senior Col. Zhang Chunhui.

And on Saturday, China’s condition-owned World wide Occasions tabloid revealed a critique of the F-16 sale.

The “crimson line” is any Taiwanese move for independence from Beijing.

But Drew Thompson, a former US Defense Division formal now at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Community Policy in Singapore, explained Friday’s announcement was procedural more than provocative, as Lockheed Martin experienced to line up subcontractors to get the unique components to make the airplanes to Taipei’s requirements.

“It’s a bit like shopping for a vehicle. This was finalizing the choices that Taiwan wished,” Thompson explained.

A situation for stabilization

Australian armed service analyst Peter Layton of the Griffith Asia Institute explained the F-16 sale could basically assistance stabilize the Taiwan problem, at minimum from a army standpoint.

“The sale will act to broadly manage the air beat equilibrium” among Taiwanese (ROCAF) and Chinese (PLAAF) air forces, Layton said.

“The PLAAF has drastically extra air combat aircraft than the ROCAF, but in a conflict the ROCAF will be defending and the PLAAF attacking. The change in roles and that the ROCAF will be working more than its personal airfields compensates for the distinction in numbers,” he claimed.

“The additional F-16s will just keep the harmony into the early 2030s,” Layton stated.

Although the US has extensive supplied arms to Taiwan as part of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, Beijing has regularly chafed at those profits, protesting them as a violation of China’s sovereignty regardless of the Chinese Communist Occasion obtaining under no circumstances governed the island.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Monday reiterated all those promises.

“The act severely ruined China’s sovereignty and protection interests and significantly violated the norms of worldwide relations,” Zhao explained.

A Pentagon report in Might 2019 warned that Taiwan’s classic army rewards around Beijing in the party of a cross-strait conflict were being eroding in the facial area of China’s ongoing endeavours to modernize its armed forces.

But considering the fact that then the Trump administration has been stepping up arms revenue to Taiwan, which include Abrams key fight tanks, Stinger anti-plane missiles and before this calendar year, new torpedoes.

Layton mentioned Monday the Patriot missile up grade is effective alongside with the F-16 sale to maintain steadiness across the Taiwan Strait.

“The Patriot and F-16V revenue fit jointly perfectly to aid Taiwan’s air defenses without having staying confrontational to China,” he reported.

A pilot favorite

Thompson claimed the F-16s will be a morale booster for Taiwanese pilots who would very likely be the very first to face fight in opposition to the PLAAF in any doable conflict.

He famous that the fighter can function in lots of roles, which includes launching missiles at ships, taking out enemy radar, as effectively as in air-to-air confrontations.

“This is a pretty capable aircraft. It truly is small, it can be nimble, it really is simple to fly. Pilots enjoy it,” Thompson reported.

And whilst it is not a stealth fighter, it does have a scaled-down radar cross section than earlier versions of the F-16, producing it tougher to goal, he said.

The deal does depart Taipei with a gap to fill in its forces — pilots, explained Meia Nouwens, investigate fellow for China protection policy at the Worldwide Institute for Strategic Research in London.

“This sale will involve Taiwan recruit 107 further pilots. And in the earlier 9 several years Taiwan has only increased its F-16 pilots by 21 officers,” she reported. “We are going to need to have to preserve an eye on this in the up coming couple of several years.”

The finalization of the sale is also not likely to get Beijing any far more upset with Taipei than it already is, Thompson reported.

In past arms revenue, “China has not punished Taiwan. China seeks to punish to United States,” he mentioned.

“I you should not see why this would be any various.”