By Wendell Minnick
TAIPEI — Taiwan signed an the agreement with the U.S. government for a $3.7 billion upgrade to its existing 146 F-16A/B Block 20 fighter aircraft.
The letter of offer and acceptance (LOA) was signed on July 13 during a meeting in Taichung, said a defense industry source in Taipei. The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency under the Foreign Military Sales program will administer the competition for the upgrade program.
The most heated competition will be between Northrop Grumman and Raytheon over who will win the active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar contract. Northrop is offering the Scalable Agile Beam Radar against the Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar. Both radars will also compete in South Korea’s upgrade for 135 KF-16C/D Block 52 fighters, and a possible AESA competition later for Singapore’s F-16s.
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