Taiwan’s air force, also known as the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF),
has activated its first squadron of F-16V Fighting Falcon fighter jets.
It is interesting to note that the unit is comprised of F-16A Block 20 aircraft which
are some of the oldest F-16 airframes in service anywhere in the world - a design that has served
since the late 1970s - but has been upgraded to the F-16V standard via domestic facilities.
This capability is part of Phoenix Rising' program.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why Taiwan's 'Phoenix Rising' program will be
key to deter Chinese aggression? Let's get into the details.
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China considers Taiwan as part of its territory
and is willing to bring it back into its fold even if it requires force.
In this context, it is important to note that Taiwanese voters have re-elected incumbent
president Tsai Ing-Wen in a landslide election. This is seen as a sharp rebuke to Beijing
and its attempts to intimidate and lure Taiwan into China’s fold.
She easily defeated her opponent Han Kuo-yu, whose Kuomintang party promotes closer ties with China.
Since this, China has taken a very hostile stance
and has been sending aircraft and ships to intimidate Taiwan.
The relation between Taiwan–United States is unofficial
and informal and is governed by the Taiwan Relations Act.
The Taiwan Relations Act is designed to maintain ambiguity and does not state if the USA will or
will not intervene militarily if the PRC attacks or invades Taiwan. Under the act,
the U.S is obligated to sell “arms of a defensive character” to Taiwan.
F-16 is one of the several American platforms provided by the U.S to Taiwan for self-defense.
The F-16 is a single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally
developed by General Dynamics which is now Lockheed Martin for the United States Air Force.
It was primarily designed to be an air superiority day fighter but has evolved into a successful
all-weather multirole aircraft. Over 4,500 aircraft have been built
since production started in 1976. U.S. Air Force no longer buys it but
it is still being build for exporting and there is a good demand for the fighter.
It has a max speed of Mach 2 and a combat radius of 340 mi or 550 km.
The fighter can be armed with a wide range of air to air, air to ground, and anti-ship weapons.
For air-to-air combat, it can carry AIM-7 Sparrow,
AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-120 AMRAAM, IRIS-T, Python-4 and Python-5.
For air to ground attack, it can deploy serval types of smart bombs and missile
like AGM-65 Maverick, AGM-88 HARM and AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM)
For the anti-ship role, it can be equipped with AGM-84 Harpoon and AGM-119 Penguin.
Taiwan received 150 F-16s in the 1990s.
Though initial variants of F-16 have been retired in countries that used to operate
them such as Israel, Egypt, and the U.S, Taiwan along with Pakistan and Venezuela
remain as its major operators.
The F-16 has seen many upgrades over the years.
The latest F-16V standard has the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR)
which is a multifunction active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.
Other upgrades include new mission computers, an improved electronic warfare suite,
modern avionics and the ability to integrate precision-guided weapons.
The addition of these has made the F-16 a very potent platform
even against more recently developed fighters.
Phoenix Rising aims to upgrade existing aircraft to the F-16V standard locally.
The ROCAF received its first domestically upgraded F-16 in October 2018, with upgrades
carried out by Taiwan’s state-owned Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC).
Also, Taiwan has also developed indigenous facilities that can be used to conduct
maintenance and repairs. This will eliminate the need to
send the fighters to the United States for upgrades and repairs.
Taiwan will receive 66 new American-made F-16 fighter jets in the biggest arms
sale to the self-governing island in years. The deal was finalized last year.
It will get the latest version of the Lockheed Martin-built fighter.
Taiwan wanted to have the jets amid increasing Chinese military incursions into its air space.
The deal is expected to be around $8 billion
and the country is expected to receive them starting in 2023.
The fighters upgraded as part of the 'Phoenix Rising' program will supplement these new ones.
China has filled its coastlines with missiles that can strike Taiwan’s military assets.
An upgraded fleet of F-16 fleet could restore balance.
F 16 is one of the most successful fighter jets in history. The latest variant of the F 16
will be a challenge for any Chinese fighter including their best fighter the -Chengdu J-20
Reports have emerged that a Sukhoi Su-30MKI
of the Indian Air Force managed to detect the Chinese Chengdu J-20 jet fighter.
The disclosure didn’t come from any independent analysts but an official source.
Indian Air Force commander Arup Shaha said,
"The Sukhoi's radar can see them. The new Chinese jets are not so invisible after all. No special
technology is required to detect the J-20, as it can be detected by ordinary radar stations.”
This has ignited debates that the J 20 is nothing more than a decorated 4++ generation fighter.
China has seen a high level of economic growth
and with that fund, it has made a lot of progress in military hardware.
China spends more than 20 times on defense when compared to Taiwan.
Taiwan needs will every F-16 it has in optimum condition to fend off Chinese forces.
The versatile aircraft available in large numbers will not only be able to
counter Chinese fighters and bombers but will also
be able to hold Chinese naval assets at risk with long range precision weapons.
This will complicate any Chinese plan to land troops on Taiwan's shore
with amphibious landing crafts.
'Phoenix Rising' program is expected to greatly enhance the air power of Taiwan.