Trump administration approves F-16 sale to Taiwan over Chinese opposition

[Right_in_Virginia]

Trump administration approves F-16 sale to Taiwan over Chinese opposition
Washington Times, Aug 16, 2019

The Trump administration on Friday gave the green light to an $8 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan in a move that is all but certain to anger China amid a bitter trade dispute between Washington and Beijing.

The State Department submitted the sale’s package for “informal review” on Thursday, multiple media outlets reported. The deal marks the biggest weapons sale to Taiwan in modern history, and is almost certain to anger Beijing, which considers Taiwan part of its sovereign territory.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch, Idaho Republican, said in a statement “these fighters are critical to improving Taiwan’s ability to defend its sovereign airspace, which is under increasing pressure” from Beijing.

The bipartisan leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee released a joint statement praising the sale, and said it “sends a strong message about the U.S. commitment to security and democracy in the Indo-Pacific.”


More:  https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/aug/16/trump-administration-oks-f-16-jet-sale-taiwan-over/

[PeteS in CA]

Most of Taiwan's fighters are a mix of F-16As and the self-developed F-CK-1. The latter looks like a hybrid of an F-16 and an F-18. It's performance is similar to the F-16 or F-18.

The F-CK-1 was developed in the late 80s and early 90s when Taiwan wanted to replace its aging F-104s and F-5s, but the US refused to sell F-20 Tigersharks (an evolutionary step from the F-5) to Taiwan.

I'm guessing the big point of this F-16 sale is modern avionics and weapons capabilities.