Is Taiwan's Purchase Of 66 U.S. F-16 Fighters A Waste Of Time And Money?

An Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon from Eielson Air Force Base flies in formation over the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex, July 18, 2019. (Staff Sgt. James Richardson/Air Force)

National Interest: Taiwan Wants Billions of Dollars Worth of U.S. F-16 Fighters. It's a Waste of Time.

China possesses hundreds of more modern fighters than Taiwan does. Sixty-six F-16s won’t change that. And Taipei already has begun to revamp its defensive strategy to de-emphasize the importance of conventional major weapons systems such as F-16s.

Nearly a decade after first requesting them, the Taiwanese air force finally could get 66 new F-16 fighters to begin replacing some of its older fighter aircraft.

But the $8-billion fighter-acquisition, which the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump approved over strong objections from China, likely will do little to alter the overall balance of power across the Taiwan Strait.

Read more ....

Update: Taiwan F-16 sale officially cleared by Trump administration (Defense News)

WNU Editor: I disagree with the above analysis. Taiwan's focus is to make any Chinese invasion of its territory a very costly affair. The purchase of 66 fighters .... which I believe will be the first of many arms purchases .... will do just that. There is also the political message that is being sent out, which is the U.S. sending a message to everyone in Asia that they will stick with Taiwan. This is what America's other allies in Asia want to see. Not surprising, the Chinese are well aware of what this means, and they are objecting and threatening accordingly .... China threatens sanctions over US-Taiwan F-16 fighter plane deal (BBC).

0 Response to "Is Taiwan's Purchase Of 66 U.S. F-16 Fighters A Waste Of Time And Money?"

Post a Comment