Taiwan and the US Air Force closed a US$ 3.7bn deal on upgrading the island’s F-16 fleet after two years of negotiations. But the deal did not really improve the US-Taiwan relationship, writes Wendell Minnick in Defense News.Read More →
As a first sign Europe might be turning away from its weapon embargo against Taiwan by deploying three Eurocopter EC225 helicopters, sending a message to Washington, writes defense analyst Wendell Minnick in Defense News.Read More →
Rising costs of the upgrade of its fleet of F-16’s have caused tension between Taiwan and the US, as the angry Taiwanese decided to postpone the already long-delayed agreement, writes defense expert Wendell Minnick in Defense News. Read More →
Taiwan has announced cuts in its defense budget, making it tougher to upgrade its aging fleet of F-16’s, writes the Asia Sentinel. But defense analyst Wendell Minnick says the budget cuts are unlikely to influence the island’s security, or even the quality of its F-16’s.Read More →
Two members of US Congress have asked for a National Security Review and a Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States review into a new GE joint venture with the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), writes defense analyst Wendell Minnick in Defense News.Read More →
US joint ventures in China might be helping China’s military in improving its aerospace capabilities, according to an early draft of a report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, seen by Defense News China expert Wendell Minnick. The official report in due in November.Read More →
The decision by the US administration to ban the sale of F-16’s to Taiwan might cost the US economy US$1 trillion, according to a US analysis, writes defense expert Wendell Minnick in Defense News. Taiwan lobbyists find here new ammunition against the ban.Read More →
Seven retired US air force officials urged in a letter for an upgrade of Taiwan’s F-16 as “vital for Taiwan to defend itself and restore balance in the Taiwan Strait”, defense specialist Wendell Minnick writes in Defense News.Read More →
Taiwan might shift its preference to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JFK) after the US declined to sell F-16’s to the island, to safeguard its relationship with China, defense specialist Wendell Minnick writes in Defense News, quoting deputy Defense minister Andrew Yang.Read More →
The US have giving in to Chinese pressure and decided to stop the delivery of F-16 fighter planes to Taiwan, defense expert Wendell Minnick reports in Defense News. Taiwan’s officials are disappointed.Read More →
A decade ago the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) made everything from trucks, via black jacks to tea spoons to survive. But Avic is back, notes military expert Wendell Minnick in Defense News, with new types of fighter jets, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles and airborne weapons, ready for international competition.Read More →
Taiwan is gearing up to sink China’s new aircraft carrier Varyag in case of war, with its new “aircraft carrier killer” missile, the ramjet-powered supersonic anti-ship cruise missile Hsiung Feng 3, it announced on August 10, writes defense specialist Wendell Minnick in Defense News. Read More →