Taiwan dismisses talk of US F-16V jet swap deal with Ukraine and Poland
- Island’s defence ministry says it’s still on track to get its 66 fighters by 2026
- US secretary of state says US is exploring the idea of supplying fighter jets to Poland if Poland sends its Soviet-era aircraft to Ukraine
“We have heard nothing about that from [the US] and our air force has been keeping close contact with [the US] on the progress” of the delivery of the F-16Vs, defence ministry spokesman Shih Shun-wen said in Taipei.
He said the United States would start sending the 66 planes to Taiwan batch by batch from next year until 2026 as scheduled.
His comments followed a New York Times report on Sunday that the US might compensate Poland with the F-16s ordered by Taiwan in exchange for Poland sending its Soviet-era fighter jets to help Ukraine fight Russian forces.
US, Poland working on supplying Russian-made warplanes to Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to the US Congress on Saturday for more lethal military aid, especially Russian-made jets that Ukrainian pilots knew how to fly.
The next day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was exploring the idea of supplying fighter jets to Poland should Warsaw choose to send its own to Ukraine.
“We are looking actively now at the question of planes that Poland may provide to Ukraine and looking at how we might be able to backfill, should Poland decide to supply those planes,” Blinken said.
“I can’t speak to a timeline, but I can just say we’re looking at it very, very actively.”
09:51
US Secretary of State Blinken meets Ukraine's Foreign Minister Kuleba at Poland-Ukraine border
One of the options was to send the F-16Vs promised to Taiwan to Poland in return for Poland sending its Soviet-era fighter jets to Ukraine, The New York Times reported on Sunday.
The report said a jet-supply arrangement would require congressional approval and was being discussed with other Nato countries.
But any such supply would be a decision for the country involved, and not for Nato decision, given that Nato wants to avoid any direct conflict with the Russian military in Ukraine or over its airspace.
It said there are numerous practical questions, including how to provide replacement planes to Poland and how to get the Polish planes to Ukraine.
The report quoted US officials as saying the next tranche of F-16s for export was set to go to Taiwan and they were reluctant to delay them.
But on Tuesday, Taiwanese air force officials dismissed the prospect of the swap, saying it was their understanding that the US had no plan to put off the delivery.
US response to Ukraine invasion raises doubts over defence of Taiwan
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Monday the swap was still in a “very early” stage of discussion far from being “a done deal”.
It was unclear how many US aircraft would be involved or how they would be transported, he was quoted by Defence News as saying.
“It’s just a discussion about the possibility of should there be a nation that would want to give aircraft and would ask for a backfill from the United States,” Kirby said in describing the talks.
“Should that happen, what would that look like, how would we do that? We don’t have all the answers right now.”
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Monday the administration was not opposing such a deal, but there were significant logistical challenges, Defence News reported.
Poland also appeared to pour cold water on such a deal, with the Polish prime minister’s office saying on Sunday: “Poland won’t send its fighter jets to #Ukraine as well as allow to use its airports. We significantly help in many areas.”
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Taiwan deploys its most advanced F-16V fighter jets amid rising military tensions with Beijing
The F-16Vs are the newest F-16 configuration, with new avionics, a modernised cockpit and an improved engine, according to US supplier Lockheed Martin.
The US approved the sale of 66 F-16 fighters to Taiwan in August 2019 under a US$8 billion deal to be completed by 2026.
The sale would put the island on track to field one of the largest F-16 fleets in Asia, bringing the island’s total number of F-16s, including older versions, to more than 200.
The deal seriously angered Beijing, which considers the island as its territory.
Beijing, which has time and again warned the US against supplying arms to Taiwan or having official contacts with the island, has ramped up pressure on Taipei by sending warplanes almost daily and staging war games nearby in the past several years.
