The Department of Defense announced yesterday the award of $62 billion in contracts to Lockheed Martin for the delivery of 90 F-16 aircraft under the Foreign Military Sales program. The announcement did not say where these aircraft are to be delivered but AFP reported that its sources confirmed that 66 of the jets are headed for Taiwan (the other 24 are thought to be for Morocco).
Global Times reports that the deal was already approved a year ago by the State Department but, according to Chinese experts, “its announcement at this particular time is believed to be yet another U.S. provocation and a step on the red line of the Taiwan question, which further risks confrontation.” The Pentagon announcement came on the heels of the PLA announcement a day earlier of recent exercises in the Taiwan Strait.
Chinese mainland experts told Global Times that while F-16V fighter jets could become threats to the PLA forces, the PLA’s J-10B and J-10C fighter jets can rival them, and they are no match for the heavier J-11, not to mention the much more advanced J-20 stealth fighter. If a reunification-by-force operation breaks out, the PLA would destroy Taiwan’s air fields and command centers, giving the F-16Vs no chance to even take flight, and giving those already in the air no place to land, analysts said.
Also yesterday, the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier strike group conducted another exercise in the South China Sea, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet.
