DefenceBlog.com
Date: Aug 16, 2020
By: Daisuke Sato

A U.S. Department of Defense announcement on Thursday said Pentagon’s No.1 weapons supplier Lockheed Martin Corp has been awarded a $62 billion, 10-year contract for the production of F-16s for Foreign Military Sale (FMS), and the initial delivery order is for 90 aircraft.

The DoD did not reveal the buyers of the fighter jets, but media outlets including Bloomberg and AFP reported on Friday that the deal includes Taiwan’s approved purchase of 66 F-16V fighters.

By announcing the F-16 deal has been finalized, the U.S. is attempting to show its tough stance, and the move could be considered as corresponding to the PLA drills, Ni Feng, director of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Saturday.

Under these circumstances, the US move is even more dangerous, as it steps on and even crosses the Chinese mainland’s red line on the Taiwan question, Ni said, noting that the risk of a confrontation continues to rise.    [FULL  STORY]