Taiwan unlikely to acquire F-35 fighters soon: U.S. business council

Taipei, July 19 (CNA) The U.S.-Taiwan Business Council said Wednesday that Taiwan is unlikely to obtain advanced F-35 jet fighters in the next decade and that a contingency plan is needed to meet Taiwan's defense needs during the upgrade of its current fighter fleet. Taipei and Washington should work out a plan in the next few months to ensure that "while Taiwan's F-16 A/Bs are being withdrawn from the front line in 2016 and beyond, new fighters are available to fill the gap," the U.S.-based council said in a statement. The statement was issued against the background of Taiwan's recent signing of a letter of acceptance sent by the United States on a US$3.8 billion program to retrofit Taiwan's 145 F-16 A/B fighters. Read More.............