Amid tensions with China, the US decides to upgrade Taiwan’s F-16 fighter jet tracking systems

The government of Taiwan said on Thursday that it would spend an additional T$94.3 billion ($2.97 billion) on armaments, including fighter planes, to enhance its defenses against China. Taiwan will also benefit from modern F-16 fighter jet monitoring systems.

Over the last three years, China has increased military and political pressure to bolster its claims that Taiwan, which is democratically governed, is its own territory. Taipei vehemently denies these assertions.

The total projected defense budget for 2024 has already been established at T$606.8 billion, a 3.5% increase from the current year, according to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.

After a cabinet meeting to examine the budget, the government’s statistics department said that T$94.3 billion more will be spent on reinforcing naval defenses and buying fighter planes for around half of that amount.

On Wednesday, the United States gave its approval to a potential $500 million sale to Taiwan of weaponry, including infrared search and track systems for F-16 fighter planes.

The F-35 and F-22 fighters, two of the most technologically sophisticated American aircraft, share the same search and tracking technology, according to Taiwan’s deputy defense minister Po Horng-huei.

In the future, Po added in reference to the latest generation of Chinese aircraft, “these will help to target the J-20 stealth fighter over the Taiwan Strait.” It will make Taiwan more capable of effectively discouraging Chinese air activities, he said.

The legislature, where Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party has a majority, will have to adopt the budget. The amount allocated to defense will represent 2.5% of Taiwan’s GDP in 2019.

To better equip Taiwan’s armed forces to take on China, Tsai has oversaw a military modernization program that includes constructing its own submarines and updating its fleet of F-16 fighter planes.

Tsai said on Monday that the first indigenous prototype submarine was anticipated to be presented as planned the following month.

In order to better compete with the Chinese air force, especially its J-20 stealth fighters, Taiwan has bought 66 new F-16V aircraft and is upgrading 141 F-16A/B aircraft to the F-16V type.

1 equals 31.7490 Taiwan dollar