China Would Freak: Imagine if Taiwan Had the F-35 Fighter
Selling Taiwan the F-35 would help the island modernize its fighter jet fleet and stand up to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) aggression, increase interoperability with America’s other military allies in the Indo-Pacific Command region, and notably tweak Beijing’s nose.
What You Need to Know: The article advocates for the United States to sell F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation stealth fighters to Taiwan to modernize its air force and bolster its defense against increasing aggression from the People's Republic of China (PRC).
-Taiwan's current fleet, including F-16s, Indigenous Defense Fighters, Mirage 2000s, and older F-5E Tiger II fighters, is deemed insufficient to counter China's advanced aircraft like the Chengdu J-20 and the upcoming Shenyang J-35.
-Providing F-35s would enhance Taiwan's military capabilities, improve interoperability with U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific region—such as Australia, Japan, and South Korea—and send a strong message to Beijing. While critics argue that this move could upset China and worsen Sino-U.S. relations, the article suggests that supporting Taiwan is more crucial given China's aggressive actions toward regional allies.
F-35 for Taiwan?
Should the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF), i.e., the Taiwanese Air Force, receive the F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation stealth fighter program, the latest brainchild of Lockheed Martin’s legendary “Skunk Works” division, from the United States of America?
Selling Taiwan the F-35 would help the island modernize its fighter jet fleet and stand up to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) aggression, increase interoperability with America’s other military allies in the Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) region, and notably tweak Beijing’s nose.
Upgrading Taiwan’s Current Fighter Jet Fleet
Taiwan’s current fleet is, for the most part, fairly well-equipped technologically, if not numerically, to handle Mainland China’s fourth-generation and older fighter jets such as the J-15, J-11, and J-7, as well as older bombers like the H-6.
But against the People Liberation Army Air Force’s (PLAAF) fifth-generation stealth fighter jets like the Chengdu J-20 Weilong and up-and-coming Shenyang J-35, not to mention the prospective sixth-generation H-20 bomber, the ROCAF is sorely lacking. A stealth fighter like the F-35 would go a long way to fill this void.
According to the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft, the ROCAF has the following warbirds:
-115 Lockheed Martin F-16A/V Fighting Falcons, with sixty-six more of the 2015-vintage V variants (AKA the “Viper” on order.
-103 Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) F-CK-1C Ching-kuo fighters, aka the Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF); this is Taiwan’s only homegrown fighter plane.
-Forty-four Dassault Mirage 2000 fighters.
-Twenty-five Northrop F/RF-5E Tiger II fighters, aka the Freedom Fighter, which were built in 1972 and are the oldest, and fairly obsolescent, warbird in the ROCAF fighter arsenal.
I’m specifically focusing on Taiwan’s Air Force here because, although the Republic of China Naval Aviation Command (ROCNAC) does have fixed-wing aircraft, none of them are fighter planes; the Republic of China Navy uses the Lockheed P-3 Orion for maritime patrol and the EP-3 Aries II variant for signals reconnaissance.
Interoperability with the U.S. and Other Regional Allies
Besides the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, the Royal Australian Air Force, Japan Air Self-Defense Force, and the Republic of Korea Air Force already use the Lightning II.
Given the likelihood that a war with China would, for all practical purposes, entail World War III, drawing a multinational anti-PRC coalition into the conflict, it would only make sense to give the ROCAF that interoperability with the United States, Australia, Japan, and South Korea.
Making China Upset
The China lobbyists will whine that providing F-35s to Taipei would upset Beijing, worsen Sino-U.S. relations, and violate the spirit of America’s longstanding “One China” policy.
But why is this a problem?
The intentional strategic ambiguity of the “One China” policy notwithstanding, the events of the current and previous decades should make it abundantly clear to any American citizen that Taipei is our friend and ally while Beijing is our unofficial enemy. We’re talking about a Chinese Communist tyranny that has committed acts of aggression against our regional allies (not just Taiwan, but the Philippines, India, and Japan).
So, if selling F-35s to Taiwan would anger those high up in the PRC chain of command, then so be it!
About the Author
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor for the National Security Journal (NSJ). He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch, The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS).
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