Taiwan proposes extra $4b spending on new weapons, gets F-16 boost
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About half of the NT$94.3 billion ((S$4 billion) additional spend will be used by Taiwan to purchase fighter jets.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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TAIPEI – Taiwan will spend an extra NT$94.3 billion (S$4 billion) to buy weapons in 2024, including fighter jets to bolster its defences against China, the government said on Thursday, and will get a further boost from new F-16 fighter jet tracking systems.
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has ramped up military and political pressure over the past three years to assert those claims, which Taipei strongly rejects.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen already announced on Monday that overall proposed defence spending for 2024 would be set at NT$606.8 billion,
About half of the NT$94.3 billion additional spend will be used to purchase fighter jets, and the remainder will go into bolstering naval defences, the government’s statistics department said after a Cabinet meeting to discuss the budget.
The United States on Wednesday approved a possible US$500 million ( S$676 million) sale to Taiwan
Taiwanese Deputy Defence Minister Po Horng-huei told reporters that the search and tracking systems are the same as those used by F-35 and F-22 fighters, among the most advanced the US operates.
“These will help to target the J-20 stealth fighter over the Taiwan Strait in the future,” Mr Po said, referring to the new generation of Chinese jets.
It will allow Taiwan to more effectively deter Chinese air activity, he added.
The budget will have to be approved by Parliament, where Ms Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party has a majority. Defence spending for next year will amount to 2.5 per cent of Taiwan’s gross domestic product.
Ms Tsai has overseen a military modernisation programme to make Taiwan’s armed forces better able to face China, including upgrading its fleet of F-16 fighter jets and developing its own submarines.
Ms Tsai said on Monday the first prototype indigenous submarine is expected to be unveiled in September as scheduled.
Taiwan has been converting 141 F-16A/B jets into the F-16V type and has ordered 66 new F-16Vs, which have advanced avionics, weapons and radar systems to better face down the Chinese air force, including its J-20 stealth fighters. REUTERS
