Delivery of F-16s boosts air combat capabilities: expert
By Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA
The delivery last week of the first two of 66 F-16V Block 70 warplanes purchased from the US would significantly boost Taiwan’s air combat capabilities, a retired US Navy rear admiral said.
The jets arrived at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung County on Friday last week.
Once several more F-16V Block 70 jets are delivered, they “will represent a significant increase in Taiwan’s air combat capability,” Mark Montgomery, a retired US Navy rear admiral and senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Central News Agency by e-mail.
An F-16V jet is pictured at an air base in Hualien County on Friday last week.
Photo: Yu Tai-lang, Taipei Times
The next major step should be for Taipei to acquire E-2D early warning aircraft and upgraded air-to-air missiles, which would enable the air force to make better use of its new F-16s, said Montgomery, who focuses on Taiwan defense issues.
Michael Hunzeker, an associate professor at George Mason University in Virginia, said that the arrival of the two F-16Vs, despite delays, showed that Washington intends to honor its arms sales commitments to Taiwan.
Taiwan is acquiring the 66 new F-16V Block 70 jets under the Feng Hsiang program. The first two single-seat aircraft departed from Texas, stopped in Hawaii and Guam, and underwent several midair refuelings before arriving at the air base on Friday last week.
Basing the new fighters in eastern Taiwan would increase the strategic depth of the nation’s defenses, help deter enemy forces and reduce the logistical burden on the air force, Taiwanese defense experts said.
Separately, the Ministry of National Defense is to expand a joint Taiwan-US defense assessment program.
The program, budgeted at more than NT$470 million (US$14.78 million) and scheduled to run from this year through 2028, would involve the US Department of Defense arranging for one representative from the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy and one from the Institute for Defense Analyses, a private nonprofit research organization, to be stationed at the ministry’s headquarters on a long-term basis, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) reported.
The arrangement would put US personnel closer to the center of Taiwan’s defense policymaking, and allow them to assist with policy coordination and military capability assessments, it reported.
The Pentagon declined to comment when contacted by the Central News Agency.
Placing US liaison personnel at the ministry could help with policy coordination and operational analysis, complementing technical and tactical training assistance already provided through US arms sales to Taiwan and programs such as the “English-language instructor” program, Hunzeker said, using a phrase that refers to US military trainers.
It remains to be seen how the relationship would develop, but the arrangement could indicate that Taipei and Washington are seeking to improve coordination at the tactical, operational, strategic and policy levels, he said.
Such developments would be more significant than the announcement of any new arms sales, he added.
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