Taiwan awards F-16 missile maintenance contract
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) signed a TWD291 million (USD10.4 million) contract with the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) for follow-on support and maintenance of US-made missiles used on the Republic of China Air Force’s (RoCAF’s) fleet of F-16 multirole fighter aircraft.
Work will be performed by US military personnel in Chiayi City and Hualien County, where the F-16s are based, and is expected to be completed by 31 December 2025, according to a notice posted on 12 May on the Taiwanese government’s procurement website.
The RoCAF’s F-16s can currently be armed with AGM-88 High-speed Anti-radiation Missiles (HARM), AGM-84L Harpoon Block II missiles, AGM-65 Maverick missiles, AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs), and AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder missiles.
Two RoCAF F-16 fighters taking off from Hualien airbase in January 2013. The MND in Taipei signed a TWD291 million (USD10.4 million) contract with the AIT for follow-on support and maintenance of US-made missiles deployed with the island’s F-16s. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)
The announcement was made on the same day that Taiwanese daily Liberty Times revealed that two RoCAF F-16s successfully fired AMRAAMs during tests over the island for the first time, hitting the intended target drones.
Previously, the United States had discouraged the firing of medium-range missiles over Taiwan for fear of provoking China and compromising the missile’s technical specifications by exposing it to potential Chinese electronic intelligence (ELINT) operations.
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