The picture shows Tsai Ing-wen presiding over the establishment of the F-16 maintenance center 6 years ago. (File photo)
[Reporter Wu Zheyu/Comprehensive Report] Lockheed Martin's authorization to establish an F-16 maintenance center was promoted by the Tsai Ing-wen administration in 2020. However, there has been little further news after 6 years of promotion. According to the evaluation report of the Legislative Yuan Budget Center, of the 372 Lockheed Martin original energy authorizations planned by the Air Force, as of July this year, only 123 were obtained, accounting for 33.06%. Before the impact was correct, 17 of the 30 key items had been built, accounting for approximately 56.67%. The Budget Center believes that if the new F-16 is delivered, the number of our fleet will exceed 200, but the original factory authorized maintenance capacity is limited.
The Budget Center recently released the 2016 Budget Assessment Report, which highlights that the Legislative Yuan passed the special regulations on the procurement of new fighter aircraft on the third reading in October 2019, requiring the government to integrate inter-ministerial resources, negotiate with the United States for the domestic production and repair of new fighter aircraft components and the transfer of key technologies, and establish an "F-16 aircraft maintenance center." The Executive Yuan has also included it in the "Six Core Strategic Industries Promotion Plan" strategy. It became one of the important policy goals during the Tsai administration.
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Although the Ministry of National Defense has signed an "Open Contract for F-16 Aircraft Maintenance Center" with Hanxiang Company to implement the production and maintenance of spare parts for this type of aircraft, and established an "F-16 Aircraft Maintenance Center" at the Hanxiang factory in August 2020, it hopes to use industrial cooperation points to assist manufacturers in obtaining partial technology transfer from foreign original manufacturers and gradually building maintenance capacity.
The maintenance center has been established for more than 6 years, but the evaluation report pointed out that as of the end of July this year, among the 30 key items listed by the Air Force that affect the safety of the F-16 aircraft, the maintenance center has built maintenance energy for 17 items, accounting for 56.67%. According to statistics from the Air Force, my country's F-16 aircraft maintenance center has obtained the original energy authorization and completed energy preparation for 123 items, accounting for 33.06% of the total 372 items.
The report believes that after the 66 F-16V (70) fighters purchased by the Air Force Command with a special budget for new fighter aircraft procurement are delivered, the number of such fighters in my country will exceed 200 by then. If independent maintenance or even production of key core components can be improved, it will help maintain the fighter's combat effectiveness; it is also worried that the current capacity to obtain authorization from original manufacturers for maintenance is still very limited. The report recommends that the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense should continue to seek authorization from foreign companies for maintenance capacity to effectively support F-16 maintenance needs and properly.
The "F-16 Maintenance Center" is the only F-16 logistics maintenance center in Asia authorized by the American F-16 manufacturer Lockheed Martin. At that time, it planned to look at the Asian market macroscopically, hoping to obtain important technology transfer by helping to repair overseas F-16s, and benefit from the F-16 fleet of the Chinese Air Force.
