來源:BLOOMBERG
標題 :U.S. Formalizes F-16 Jet Sale to Taiwan With China Tensions High
簡單翻譯一下
美國正式將 66台 F16 賣給台灣
這幾台F16 為洛克希爾馬丁所製造之最新型戰機
此機型配有最新型的射控雷達，由Northrop Grumman Corp.所製造，型號為APG-83。
這份合約，並未載明出售給台灣，且打造戰機數量為90架；彭博引述國防部官員
說法指，台灣和摩洛哥是買主，台灣購買66架，摩洛哥購買24架。
摩洛哥 24架 合約價值約為 49億美金。這項90架戰機的合約，會在2026年年底左右完成
這次的軍購案包括56架單座戰機與10架雙座戰機，總金額為80億美元，第一架單座戰機
預定在2024年交機，第一架雙座戰機則預定2023年第四季交機
Taiwan formally signed an agreement to buy 66 of the latest model F-16 jets
built by Lockheed Martin Corp., a move likely to further inflame tensions
between the U.S. and China.
Taiwan’s purchase of the F-16s marks the first sale of advanced fighter jets
to the island since President George H.W. Bush announced approval for 150
F-16s in 1992. A $62 billion figure announced by the Pentagon on Friday is
the upper limit of numerous contracts if all potential foreign customers
placed their maximum desired number over the decade.
The move is likely to be denounced by Beijing, even though the U.S. first
signaled its plans to approve the sale a year ago in an informal notification
to Congress and it could still be years before the jets are delivered.
The announcement said that work on the 90 jets potentially to be sold under
Friday’s announcement would be complete by late 2026.
Company officials have previously said they project a market for as many as
400 of the new F-16s.
U.S. Backs F-16 Sale to Taiwan, Drawing Warning From China
When the planned sale was announced in August last year, a spokeswoman for
China’s Foreign Ministry told reporters that “U.S. arms sales to Taiwan
severely violate the one-China principle.”
The spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said at the time that her government was
urging the U.S. to “refrain” from selling the “fighter jets to Taiwan and
stop arms sales to, and military contact with, Taiwan. Otherwise, the Chinese
side will surely make strong reactions, and the U.S. will have to bear all
the consequences.”
Since then, ties with the U.S. have only frayed further, with the two nations
in a series of disputes ranging from the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic to
5G technology and Beijing’s tightening grip over Hong Kong.
In addition to Taiwan, Morocco is buying 24 F-16s jets in the first tranche
of 90 aircraft that the Pentagon said was valued at $4.9 billion. The
Pentagon announcement didn’t name Taiwan or Morocco, but they have been
identified in a previous statement and were confirmed Friday by a person
familiar with the contract.
The new F-16s are being assembled at Lockheed’s new facility in Greenville,
South Carolina, which opened in April 2019. The contracting mechanism used by
the Pentagon “will facilitate faster contract awards and greater pricing
clarity for our foreign military partners,” Brian Brackens, an Air Force
spokesman, said in a statement to Bloomberg News before the contract
announcement.
“Taiwan and Morocco are expected to be the first two partner nations that
will utilize this contract,” Brackens said.
The Taiwan F-16s will be equipped with a top-line fire control radar made by
Northrop Grumman Corp. Called the APG-83, it would allow precision-guided
munitions to be fired at greater distances, said an official familiar with
the details.
Lockheed Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Possenriede told analysts on a July
21 earnings call that the company was anticipating a “quite large” F-16
order “that should get announced sometime this quarter” in which “the
marquee customer is Taiwan.”
The additional 90 F-16s would add to Lockheed’s current 38-aircraft backlog.
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