The US State Department has approved a potential foreign military sale to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the US, involving spare parts and support for F-16 aircraft and Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars.
This sale, valued at $320m (T$10.4bn), aims to bolster Taiwan's defence capabilities and maintain operational readiness.
The TECRO has requested critical spare and repair parts, consumables, accessories, and repair and return support for F-16 aircraft.
The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a compact, multi-role fighter aircraft known for its manoeuvrability and effectiveness in air-to-air combat and air-to-surface attacks.
Additionally, the request includes AESA radar spare parts, US Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics and programme support.
Deliveries are expected to commence in 2025.
The proposed sale aligns with US law and policy, as expressed in Public Law 96-8, supporting Taiwan's ongoing efforts to modernise its armed forces.
The sale aims to enhance Taiwan's security, maintain regional political stability, military balance, and economic progress.
It will improve Taiwan's ability to meet current and future threats by sustaining the operational readiness of its F-16 fleet.
Taiwan is expected to integrate the equipment into its armed forces without difficulty.
The equipment will be sourced from US Government stock and will not alter the basic military balance in the region.
The State Department has also approved a possible FMS to TECRO for Improved Mobile Subscriber Equipment (IMSE) follow-on support, valued at $65m.
This extends services provided under a previous case valued at $41.6m.
It covered follow-on support for the IMSE and Experimental Force system, including repair, management, liaison support, technical support, logistics, and OCONUS depot operations.
This notification is for a two-year extension of these services.
Earlier in 2024, the US State Department approved a $220m sale of F-16 spare and repair parts to TECRO.
