In Taiwan’s Hualien Air Force Base, an “F-16V” fighter jet of the Taiwan Air Force prepares to perform a night takeoff mission.
The U.S. State Department approved an arms sale to Taiwan with a total value of 619 million U.S. dollars (approximately NT$18.95 billion), including two types of missiles such as the “AGM-88B” for the U.S. “F-16” fighter jet, with hundreds of pieces , eye-catching. This is the ninth arms sale to Taiwan since US President Joe Biden took office.
The proposal has entered the process of notifying the U.S. Congress, Reutersreportthe case may further exacerbate tensions between China and the United States.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded at a press conference on Thursday (March 2), saying that China “urges the US to stop selling arms to Taiwan and related military ties, and stop creating tension in the Taiwan Strait.”
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei said in response to the U.S. arms sale to Taiwan on Friday that “the U.S. has grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs” and “seriously violated the ‘one China’ principle and the three Sino-US joint communiqués, especially the ‘August 17th. The communiqué stipulates that it seriously damages China’s sovereignty and security interests.”
Tan Kefei also said that the Chinese military “always stands ready to fight back against all ‘independence’ provocations and interference from external forces at any time, and resolutely defends national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Dr. Su Ziyun, a Taiwan think tank “National Defense Security Research Institute”, told BBC Chinese that from Taiwan’s standpoint, the “AGM-88B” and “AIM-120-C8” missiles in this order are the “first-line equipment” currently in service of the U.S. Air Force. “, and even the U.S. military itself is gradually upgrading, with advanced technology.
He believes that the White House’s agreement to sell such sophisticated weapons to Taiwan should be to implement the spirit of the US National Defense Authorization Act, which regards Taiwan as a “non-NATO major ally”. Technological weapons to Taiwan.”
arms sales
image source,USAF/Getty Images
An “F-16” of the 421st Fighter Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, USA launches an “AIM-120” advanced medium-range air-to-air missile in the air (US Air Force file photo).
According to a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Defense on Thursday (March 2), the U.S. government announced on March 1, local time, a countermeasure worth 619 million U.S. dollars for Type 2 missiles such as “AGM-88B” and “AIM-120C”. Taiwan’s arms sales case will go through the procedure of “notifying Congress”, and it is expected to come into force in one month.
According to Reuters, the “AIM-120C-8” missile in the order is the most advanced medium-range air-to-air missile currently in service in the U.S. Air Force, with a range of 160 kilometers. air missiles.
Dr. Su Ziyun told BBC Chinese that from a technical point of view, “AIM-120C8” has a sharper “seeking head” to fight against low-radar cross-section (Radar Cross-Section) targets such as high-speed cruise missiles or stealth fighters. Perform off-axis attack mode.
He said that the missile has more powerful electronic “counter-countercapability” and can identify decoys and attack targets in a high-intensity electronic battlefield.
The “AGM-88B” is the latest anti-radiation missile of the U.S. Air Force. According to public information, in addition to the global positioning system (GPS) and advanced inertial navigation system, the control section of this missile also simultaneously upgrades the performance of the mission computer, which is used to integrate navigation and seekers, and to capture enemy electromagnetic signal data.
Su Ziyun said that the missile has an extended range of 180 kilometers and has the most advanced wide-frequency domain search capability, which can effectively counter various phased array radars.
However, Raytheon Technologies Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp., the main arms manufacturers of the two missiles, were recently included in the list of unreliable business entities by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Related business in China was sanctioned.
Taiwan Air Force “F-16” fighter
According to US media reports, by 2022, the Taiwan Air Force will have a total of 141 “F-16V” (Block 20) fighters in service. In 2026, when all the orders purchased from the United States are delivered, Taiwan will have 207 “F-16V” (Block 70) fighters, which will be the air force with the largest number of such fighters in the world.
According to past military purchase data, the “F-16” fighter jet has always been the most expensive and important part of Taiwan’s U.S. military purchases. In 2019, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense stated that the price of the “F-16V” stand-alone purchased by Taiwan was US$121.7 million, and the contract was NT$3.7 billion.
image source,USAF/Getty Images
The U.S. Air Force’s “F-16” fighter jet is installing the “Aim-120” advanced medium-range air-to-air missile (U.S. Air Force file photo).
Regarding the purchase of the “F-16” missiles, Su Ziyun analyzed that for Taiwan’s military, the sale of 100 anti-radiation missiles by the United States to Taiwan will enable Taiwan’s military to gain more strategic flexibility when performing defense tasks. He told BBC Chinese that this anti-radiation missile, combined with various long-range counter weapons, can be used to counter the radars of enemy ground and even surface ships.
He also gave an example that 200 pieces of “AIM-120-C8” combined with “F-16V” “AESR” active phase radar may be able to more effectively suppress the Chinese People’s Liberation Army “J-20” fighter jet with stealth capability, or it may Suppress the battlefield management capabilities of the enemy’s automated command system (C4ISR), disrupt the enemy’s combat rhythm, and maintain the depth of the battlefield.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense stated that the two types of missiles that the US agreed to sell this time are all types of missiles with “complete combat capabilities” of the Taiwan Air Force, and some functions have been strengthened and upgraded-the purpose is to “prepare for war without seeking war, and help yourself to fight.” help others”.
However, the American media “Washington Post” published an article on March 1reportSaid that the United States approved the order for 66 “F-16” fighters contracted by Lockheed Martin, and all of them will be delivered in 2026. By then, Taiwan will have more than 200 “F-16” fourth-generation fighters, the number of which is in the Indo-Pacific region. Number one and number two.
However, the newspaper emphasized that the Taiwan Air Force is currently facing a serious shortage of pilots and needs to add about 100 pilots to fly the newly delivered “F-16” fighter jets. However, according to data from Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan, the Taiwan Air Force added 21 new pilots from 2011 to 2019.
Professor Jie Zhong from the Institute of Strategic Studies at Tamkang University in Taiwan told the newspaper that the senior pilots of the Taiwan military are also responsible for training recruits and intercepting PLA military aircraft. It will be difficult to make up for the shortage of pilots in the next three years, so the burden on pilots will be even heavier.
In addition, in the recent Ukrainian war, Kiev’s asymmetrical strategy of “using small and large” to resist Russia has worked, and Taiwan’s military circles have also begun to voice their voices, whether to switch to buying cheaper and more accurate small-scale weapons instead of military expenditures In expensive military weapons, such as “F-16” fighters, etc.
In any case, the US-Taiwan arms sales one after another symbolize the continued tense situation in the Taiwan Strait.
According to the Japanese media “Nikkei Asia” (Nikkei Asia) published last weekreportfollowing the U.S. think tank, the Japanese “Sasakawa Peace Foundation” (Sasakawa Peace Foundation) think tank released the result of military push, saying that if Japan and the United States intervene in the Taiwan Strait war, it may prevent Beijing from occupying Taiwan, but it will also cost a lot of troops and equipment. the price.
The results of the military push show that the key to victory or defeat lies in the interruption of the military supplies of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, and the United States and Japan will eventually gain air supremacy across the Taiwan Strait. Bingtui is set to be Beijing’s attempt to launch an amphibious operation to invade Taiwan in 2026. Those involved in Bingtui include former Japanese Self-Defense Force officers and relevant researchers from Japan and the United States.
Exclusive interview with Li Ximing, former chief of staff of Taiwan: Traditional military investment is inefficient, and Taiwan should “use small to make big”