Another ally wonders about Obama's loyalty and no doubt, sense

Taiwan has still not heard from Obama on high-priority F-16s

East-Asia-Intel.com, May 5, 2010

A U.S. official said Taiwan's government is continuing to press the Obama administration to sell the island nation additional F-16 jet fighters to replace aging F-5s.

Taiwan's F-16 fighters in training in the U.S. CCTV

However, the official said it was unclear whether the administration will grant the request due to White House's concern of further upsetting China.

Beijing cut off military relations with the United States after the administration announced in January that it would sell $6.4- billion in arms to Taiwan, including missile defenses and Black Hawk helicopters, but not the F-16s.

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou has told U.S. officials the weapons are needed to enhance the island's defenses against a growing Chinese military threat.

The F-16s remain high on Ma's priority list.

A recent Defense Intelligence Agency assessment said that Taiwan's F-5s have "reached the end of their operational service life, and while the indigenously produced FCK-1 Indigenous Defense Fighter is a large component of Taiwan's active fighter force, it lacks the capability for sustained sorties."

Taiwan is seeking an additional 66 F-16s to supplement the 146 F-16s acquired in the 1990s. Taiwan is seeking the new jets before the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, closes the production line.

And meanwhile ....

China supplied technology, components for range of new Iran missiles

NICOSIA -- Iran is producing a range of Chinese-origin missiles.

Industry sources said China has transferred technology and equipment for the production of missiles in Iran. They said the missiles included anti-ship, air-to-ground and other weapons.

"It has been very successful in offering Iran technology and capabilities that are actually wanted, as opposed to those that might be nice to have," Robert Hewson, editor of Jane's Air-Launched Weapons, said.

China's C-704 anti-ship missile.

The renamed Chinese-origin missiles have included the Nasser-1 anti-ship weapon, regarded as a variant of Beijing's C-704. Iran has also been producing the Nour, identified as an upgraded variant of China's C-802 cruise missile.

"Iran has gone further than China in fielding the C-802, taking what was previously a land- and ship-launched weapon and producing an air-launched version that can be carried by Mi-17 helicopters and fast-jet types," Hewson said.

The Chinese-origin missiles were fired during the Great Prophet exercise in late April. The sources cited the launch of Nasser as well as four other anti-ship and air defense weapons, including Saeqeh and Nour.

The project has been overseen by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which reported the interception of French vessels in the Gulf. The IRGC Navy was said to have used the Chinese-origin missiles to help bolster Teheran's control over the Strait of Hormuz.

"All the missiles used in the Great Prophet-5 exercises were indigenous and already mass-produced," Iranian Defense Minister Ahmed Vahidi said. "Use of coast-to-sea and sea-to-sea cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and electronic warfare systems was among the specified goals of the war games, which were all carried out with stunning success."

Iran plans to upgrade some of its Chinese-origin variants. They included the development of Nasser for air-launch.

"There are other cooperative tactical missile programs under way and China's design bureaus have displayed several 'export only' weapons that would seem set to follow the established route into Iran," Hewson said. "With such a solid relationship established between the two countries it is not difficult to see why China has been reluctant to commit to the Western push for sanctions against Iran."