Taiwan wants more fighter jets urgently

Taiwan has appealed to the US to bring forward the export of 66 F-16 Viper fighter aircraft to boost the island’s air defence capabilities against the increasing threat from China. The new sense of urgency by the Taiwanese government emerged as the US Navy revealed an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, USS Dewey, accompanied by a Royal Canadian Navy frigate, HMCS Winnipeg, sailed through the Taiwan Strait at the end of last week. The navy said it was to underline the commitment of the US and allies to a free and open Indo-Pacific. Beijing has condemned all previous appearances of foreign warships in the strait. The sale of 66 advanced F-16s was approved by former President Trump in 2019 but the aircraft are not due for complete delivery until 2026, with the first two to arrive in 2023. Taiwan officials have asked Washington to start sending the aircraft from 2022 and also to supply long-range, air-launched cruise missiles for the F-16s, according to the Liberty Times, a national newspaper on the self-governing island. The Taiwanese air force already has around 140 F-16s but they are the older Fighting Falcon versions. The upgraded Viper model has been developed by Lockheed Martin for export and there are a number of other countries competing for priority deliveries, including Bahrain, Morocco and Bulgaria and, potentially, India and Indonesia. With the recent mass incursions of Chinese fighter aircraft and bombers in Taiwan’s air defence zone , Washington will be under pressure to meet the request for a more rapid delivery of the F-16Vs, and to consider the possible sale of joint air-to-surface standoff missiles (JASSM), also developed by Lockheed Martin. The 66 fourth-generation fighters will be stationed at Chihhang airbase in Taitung on the southeast coast of Taiwan. New hangars and missile-storage facilities are being built at the base for the arrival of the first F-16Vs. President Biden approved his administration’s first arms sale to Taiwan in April. The deal worth $750 million included 40 M109 self-propelled howitzers built by BAE Systems and 1,698 kits to convert air-launched bombs into precision-guided missiles.