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The timing of this leak gives the impression that Taiwan is once more used as a bargaining chip in Trump's trade negotiations with China, but it also more and more looks like that the F-16 deal will indeed happen. wapo.st/2z0FCGP?tid=ss…
Guess this can only be officially approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee/ House Foreign Affairs Committee after the six-week congressional recess, which began on July 26.
However, US State Department can still officially approve the possible arms deal.
FWIW: The last sale of U.S. fighter jets to Taiwan took place in 1992, under the George H.W. Bush administration.
FWIW: The last sale of U.S. fighter jets to Taiwan took place in 1992, under the George H.W. Bush administration.
Also, ROCAF is in the process of upgrading its F-16 A/B fleet to the F-16V variant under a program codenamed Phoenix Rising Project, which was launched in 2016.
By 2023, the ROCAF hopes to upgrade 144 F-16 A/B Fighting Falcon combat aircraft to the F-16V configuration. Upgrades costs are estimated at over $5 billion.
US Moves Ahead With $8 Billion F-16 Fighter Jets Sale to Taiwan
thediplomat.com/2019/08/us-mov… @Diplomat_APAC
thediplomat.com/2019/08/us-mov… @Diplomat_APAC
Note: Congress does not need to explicitly approve sales that have been formally notified, they just have a 30 or 15 day period in which to express their views via legislation.
