Taiwan to receive US arms package

[AsahinaKimi]

MIXED REACTION:While some saw the US’ decision to upgrade the F-16A/Bs as significant, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said it was ‘woefully insufficient’

Two F-16A/Bs are pictured near the air force base in Hualien County on July 16. The US on Wednesday notified Congress of a US$5.3 billion upgrade package for Taiwan’s 145 F-16 aircraft.

Ending months of suspense, the White House on Wednesday officially notified the US Congress of a US$5.85 billion package of arms that it proposes to sell to Taiwan.

As widely expected, the package offered by the administration of US President Barack Obama did not contain the 66 F-16C/D aircraft Taipei was seeking, and centered instead on upgrading its existing fleet of aging F-16A/Bs.

The only surprise was the extent of the upgrade, which includes Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) and a large array of new technology and weaponry.

Among the items cleared for release are 176 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, 176 Embedded Global Positioning System Inertial Navigation Systems, 176 ALQ-213 Electronic Warfare Management systems, 128 Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems, 140 AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles, 16 GBU-31V1 JDAM kits, 80 GBU-38 JDAM kits, as well as engineering, and a design study on replacing existing F100-PW-220 engines with F100-PW-229 engines.

more..
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2011/09/23/2003513960