By Jim Wolf and Jonathan Standing
WASHINGTON/TAIPEI (Reuters) - The Obama administration notified the U.S. Congress on Wednesday that it plans to go ahead with a potential $5.3 billion (3.3 billion pounds) upgrade of Taiwan's ageing fleet of U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets despite China's opposition to such arms deals.
China condemned the proposed arms sale and warned that the U.S. decision will harm its "core interest" in Taiwan and damage China-U.S. military and security cooperation.
The retrofit of 145 Lockheed Martin Corp F-16 A/B aircraft will give them essentially the same capabilities as late-model F-16 C/Ds that Taiwan sought to deter any attack, U.S. officials told reporters ahead of the notification.
In Taipei, Taiwan's defence ministry said the upgrade of its F-16s will contribute to regional peace by improving its defence capability in the face of what it called a continued threat from China.
Taiwan would continue to press for 66 new F-16s to replace its F-5 fighters that are more than 30 years old, the ministry said in a statement.
In the U.S. Congress, 47 of the 100 U.S. senators and 181 of the 435 members of the House of Representatives have written to President Barack Obama since May to urge him to sell Taiwan at least 66 late-model F-16 C/D planes.
Beijing deems Taiwan a renegade province and sees U.S. arms sales to the self-ruled island as the top obstacle to improved ties between the United States and China, now the world's two biggest economies.
China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday called the U.S. arms sales offer to Taiwan a "grave interference" in China's internal affairs.
"This wrongful course by the U.S. side will unavoidably damage Sino-American relations and cooperation and exchanges in the military, security and other fields," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun said, the ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn) reported.
China has shown no sign of ending an arms build-up that is focussed on Taiwan. Previous U.S. arms sales to Taipei have riled Beijing, which has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.
Taiwan's military supply options are limited to the United States, with other countries refusing to sell it weapons, fearing an angry Chinese response. For a factbox on the military balance, see [ID:nS1E78K0UM].
RADAR AND MISSILES
The Pentagon's Defence Security Cooperation Agency said in its notice that Taiwan had requested 176 state-of-the-art Active Electronically Scanned Array, or AESA, radar sets, in addition to a long list of advanced air-to-air missiles, laser- and GPS-guided bombs and other weapons systems for the F-16s sold by the United States in 1992.
AESA radar "offers a significant capability that would be able to maintain Taiwan's qualitative advantage" over currently deployed Chinese fighters, said Mark Stokes, a former Pentagon China desk chief who heads the Project 2049 Institute, an Asia security research group.
Raytheon Co and Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) are expected to compete to supply the AESA radar sets.
The Pentagon notice to Congress said Taiwan is seeking in the package 140 of the latest version of heat-seeking Raytheon AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles and 128 Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing systems, which let pilots fire on targets from multiple angles without turning their heads or the plane.
The Obama administration is required by law to notify Congress of any proposed major arms sale. The sale may go ahead after 30 days unless Congress enacts a joint resolution blocking the sale in the allotted time.
It was unclear whether any lawmaker would try to block the deal. Senator John Cornyn has proposed mandating the sale of at least 66 new F-16C/D fighters to Taiwan as an amendment to legislation now being considered on the Senate floor.
Cornyn is a Republican from Texas, where Lockheed Martin manufactures the F-16. He has emphasized the jobs that building new planes would bring along with the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, which requires the U.S. government to provide Taiwan sufficient arms for its defence.
Senate aides said Wednesday it was uncertain whether Cornyn's amendment would be voted on. He also has said he may attach it to the 2012 Defence Authorization bill expected to be considered on the Senate floor in October or November.
(Additional reporting by Christine Lu in Taipei; Ben Blanchard and Christopher Buckley in Beijing, and Susan Cornwell in Washington; Editing by Anthony Boadle)
