Chiayi: Taiwan The US has deployed the most advanced version of the F-16 fighter jet to its air force, as the self-ruled island enhances its defense capabilities to counter ongoing threats from China, which it claims is part of its territory. Is.
President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen On Thursday, 64 advanced F-16V fighter jets were inducted into service at an air force base in Chiayi. The plane is part of Taiwan’s total of 141 F-16 A/B jets, an older 1990s model that will be fully retrofitted by the end of 2023.
Tsai said the upgrade project showed the strength of Taiwan’s cooperation with the US defense industry. This comes at a time when the status of the island has become a major point of tension in US-China relations.
Beijing has been regularly increasing its threat by sending fighter jets to Taiwan’s buffer zone to the southwest of the island for long-range missions in the western Pacific.
China also increased its rhetoric with the President Xi Jinping telling the president Joe Biden Challenging China’s claim to the island was playing with fire during a virtual summit this week.
China and Taiwan broke away during the civil war in 1949, and Beijing did not rule out force to reunite with the island.
The United States’ “One China” policy recognizes Beijing as the government of China but allows for informal ties and defense ties with Taipei.
“This represents the firm promise of the Taiwan-US partnership,” Tsai said. “I believe that in holding firmly to democratic values, there will certainly be more countries with similar values who will stand with us on this front.”
The F-16V is the most technologically advanced version of the multi-role fighter jet, equipped with a highly capable radar, allowing it to track more than 20 targets at a time. It also includes a state-of-the-art electronic warfare system as well as advanced weapons, precise GPS navigation and a system for collision avoidance with the ground.
The aircraft represent the most advanced of the fourth generation fighters, but are still below the latest fifth generation such as the US F-22 and F-35, and Russia’s Su-57 and China’s J-20. Taiwan has considered buying fifth generation aircraft from the US but the F-16 upgrade was decided as the most effective measure in the current circumstances.
The Taiwan Air Force also operates the French Dassault Mirage 2000 and manufactures domestically designed and manufactured AIDC F-CK Chingkuo fighter aircraft for a total fleet of approximately 400.
In contrast, China operates about 1,600 fighters, about half of which are based in the eastern and southern theaters adjacent to Taiwan, as well as about 450 bombers. China’s superiority in both the quality and quantity of fighter jets is seen as turning the military balance in the Taiwan Strait to its advantage, independent of US military involvement.
With the upgrade and planned delivery of 66 new F-16Vs in 2023, Taiwan will be the largest operator of F-16s in Asia, said Kitsch Liao, a military and cyber affairs consultant for Doublethink Lab, an organization that targets propaganda. does. This means the island must invest in repair centers to improve the preparedness of the jets, Liao said. Previously, Taiwan had to send jets to other countries for repairs.
In Chiayi, pilots in F-16s performed complex maneuvers while flying low in the sky on Thursday.
Sandra Odkirk, Director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the US de facto embassy in Taiwan, was also present.
President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen On Thursday, 64 advanced F-16V fighter jets were inducted into service at an air force base in Chiayi. The plane is part of Taiwan’s total of 141 F-16 A/B jets, an older 1990s model that will be fully retrofitted by the end of 2023.
Tsai said the upgrade project showed the strength of Taiwan’s cooperation with the US defense industry. This comes at a time when the status of the island has become a major point of tension in US-China relations.
Beijing has been regularly increasing its threat by sending fighter jets to Taiwan’s buffer zone to the southwest of the island for long-range missions in the western Pacific.
China also increased its rhetoric with the President Xi Jinping telling the president Joe Biden Challenging China’s claim to the island was playing with fire during a virtual summit this week.
China and Taiwan broke away during the civil war in 1949, and Beijing did not rule out force to reunite with the island.
The United States’ “One China” policy recognizes Beijing as the government of China but allows for informal ties and defense ties with Taipei.
“This represents the firm promise of the Taiwan-US partnership,” Tsai said. “I believe that in holding firmly to democratic values, there will certainly be more countries with similar values who will stand with us on this front.”
The F-16V is the most technologically advanced version of the multi-role fighter jet, equipped with a highly capable radar, allowing it to track more than 20 targets at a time. It also includes a state-of-the-art electronic warfare system as well as advanced weapons, precise GPS navigation and a system for collision avoidance with the ground.
The aircraft represent the most advanced of the fourth generation fighters, but are still below the latest fifth generation such as the US F-22 and F-35, and Russia’s Su-57 and China’s J-20. Taiwan has considered buying fifth generation aircraft from the US but the F-16 upgrade was decided as the most effective measure in the current circumstances.
The Taiwan Air Force also operates the French Dassault Mirage 2000 and manufactures domestically designed and manufactured AIDC F-CK Chingkuo fighter aircraft for a total fleet of approximately 400.
In contrast, China operates about 1,600 fighters, about half of which are based in the eastern and southern theaters adjacent to Taiwan, as well as about 450 bombers. China’s superiority in both the quality and quantity of fighter jets is seen as turning the military balance in the Taiwan Strait to its advantage, independent of US military involvement.
With the upgrade and planned delivery of 66 new F-16Vs in 2023, Taiwan will be the largest operator of F-16s in Asia, said Kitsch Liao, a military and cyber affairs consultant for Doublethink Lab, an organization that targets propaganda. does. This means the island must invest in repair centers to improve the preparedness of the jets, Liao said. Previously, Taiwan had to send jets to other countries for repairs.
In Chiayi, pilots in F-16s performed complex maneuvers while flying low in the sky on Thursday.
Sandra Odkirk, Director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the US de facto embassy in Taiwan, was also present.
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