DTN News - TAIWAN DEFENSE NEWS: Taiwan To Receive First AH-64D Apache Attack Helicopter In 2012....NSI News Source Info # 2074

DTN News - TAIWAN DEFENSE NEWS: Taiwan To Receive First AH-64D Apache Attack Helicopter In 2012....NSI News Source Info # 2074

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 13, 2011:

Reported By Aviation Week dated June 10, 2011 - Taiwan to receive the first AH-64D Apache attack helicopter in 2012 and China tends to react badly whenever news emerges on Taiwan improving its military potential, so it will be interesting to see how Beijing reacts to the news the first of 30 Apache AH-64D Block III are due for delivery next year.

Taiwan is the first export customer for the Block III. The system will be almost identical to the U.S. Army system, with some national modifications, says U.S. Army project manager Col. Shane Openshaw.

The Congressional notification of the potential deal went to the U.S. Congress in 2008, so it is not a total surprise Taiwan will get the attack helicopter. But until today, there has been scant word since then that the deal has gone forward.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2011/06/dtn-news-taiwan-defense-news-taiwan-to.html

DTN News - TAIWAN DEFENSE NEWS: Pressure Builds For Sale Of F-16 Jets To Taiwan....NSI News Source Info # 2057

DTN News - TAIWAN DEFENSE NEWS: Pressure Builds For Sale Of F-16 Jets To Taiwan....NSI News Source Info # 2057

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 8, 2011: Congress is stepping up pressure on the Obama administration to sell more F-16 jet fighters to Taiwan as the island’s air defenses deteriorate and China’s air power grows.

Sen. John Cornyn, a leading advocate for efforts to bolster Taiwan’s defenses as well as to keep a U.S. production line open for new F-16s, said Tuesday that the shifting military balance across the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait is increasing the danger of a conflict that could involve the United States.

“While the administration dithers on Taiwan’s request for F-16s, evidence continues to mount that what Taiwan desperately needs to restore the cross-strait balance and regain the ability to defend its own airspace is new fighter aircraft to bolster an air force that is borderline obsolete,” the Texas Republican and Armed Services Committee member said in the Senate.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2011/06/dtn-news-taiwan-defense-news-pressure.html

DTN News - TAIWAN DEFENSE NEWS: President Ma Ying-jeou Renews Call For US Fighter Jet Sale....NSI News Source Info # 1843

DTN News - TAIWAN DEFENSE NEWS:

President Ma Ying-jeou Renews Call For US Fighter Jet Sale....

NSI News Source Info # 1843

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 20, 2011:

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday renewed his call on Washington to sell Taiwan F-16C/D aircraft, while a Coast Guard Administration official announced “rigorous combat training” for coast guard personnel in the South China Sea.

During a meeting with US Representative Dan Burton, a Republican, at the Presidential Office, Ma said he hoped the US government would support Taiwan’s request “so that we can replace the old fleet and maintain the national defense capability of our country.”

Burton arrived in Taipei on a six-day visit on Sunday. He is the chairman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia and a former co-chair of the US Congressional Taiwan Caucus.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2011/04/dtn-news-taiwan-defense-news-president.html

DTN News - TAIWAN DEFENSE NEWS: Taiwan Military Stages Highway Landing, Takeoff Drill In Tainan....NSI News Source Info # 1822

DTN News - TAIWAN DEFENSE NEWS: Taiwan Military Stages Highway Landing, Takeoff Drill In Tainan....NSI News Source Info # 1822

**

Six jets - two F-16s, two Mirage 2000-5s and two Taiwan-built Indigenous Defence Fighters - landed on a motorway near Tainan(台南) city, where they refuelled and loaded with missiles and other ammunition before taking off again.

The exercise is part of a series of war games stretching over a five-day period and codenamed 'Han Kuang(漢光) 27', or 'Han Glory 27', which involved more than 1,300 soldiers.

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Taiwan Today

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - April 14, 2011:

The ROC military held an emergency landing and takeoff drill on a stretch of Freeway No. 1 near Madou District in Tainan City in the early morning of April 12 as part of the annual Hankuang exercises.

The drill simulated a wartime situation in which runways at airbases in southern Taiwan are destroyed by mainland Chinese guided missile attacks, according to the Ministry of National Defense. “In such an event, sections of highways that have been designed to accommodate military aircraft need to be employed,” said the MND.

The ROC air force’s three main jet fighters, the F-16, Indigenous Defense Fighter and Mirage 2000, took part in the one-hour drill. Other aircraft participating in the exercise included the CH-47 transport, OH-58D scout and attack, and AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters.

This marked the first time that the air force and army’s airborne and special operations unit have jointly taken part in such an exercise.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.com/2011/04/dtn-news-taiwan-defense-news-taiwan.html

Defense News: US Likely To Help Taiwan Upgrade F-16s ~ Premier....NSI News Source Info # 1757

Defense News: US Likely To Help Taiwan Upgrade F-16s ~ Premier....NSI News Source Info # 1757

March 30, 2011: TAIPEI — Taiwan Premier Wu Den-yih confirmed Tuesday that the United States is likely to help the island upgrade its F-16 A/B fighters as it is reluctant to arm Taipei with more advanced jets.

Taiwan has been pressing for the more powerful F-16 C/Ds, saying it badly needs the weaponry as a bargaining chip against its former bitter rival China.

But the fate of a proposed arms deal remains uncertain, Wu said, amid speculation that it could jeopardise Washington's ties with Beijing.

"My understanding is that Washington does not say 'yes' or 'no'. The deal is still under Washington's evaluation," Wu said during a press conference in Taipei.

Wu said that "upgrading the F-16A/Bs is the more likely direction".

The US Congress in 1979 passed the Taiwan Relations Act requiring the United States to provide the island with defensive weapons.

A sale of F-16 C/Ds to Taiwan would be certain to ignite the anger of Beijing, which reacted furiously when the Barack Obama administration in January 2010 announced a 6.4-billion-dollar arms package for the self-governing island.

The package included Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters, and equipment for Taiwan's F-16 fleet, but no submarines or new fighter jets.

http://defensenews-updates.blogspot.com/2011/03/defense-news-us-likely-to-help-taiwan.html