Currently, whether Lockheed Martin’s (Lockheed Martin, abbreviated as: Lockheed) F-16V Blk20 restructuring plant in Shalu, Taichung, Taiwan, or the US F-16V Blk70 production line that has not yet started currently faces the same problem – the production difficulty of the electronic warfare system and the pod cabin.
The Taiwan Air Force previously insisted on using the ALQ-131A FMS pods developed by the United States at its own expense, but the U.S. military has now withdrawn from this plan. As a result, Taiwan’s R & D committee cannot be recovered, and whether the ALQ-131A FMS which is used by nobody globally is to be adopted by the Taiwan Air Force’s F-16V fighters or not has become a serious political issue, according to military analyst Chen Zongyi.
After years of hard work and struggle, the Taiwan military finally acknowledged that “the United States has officially informed us to suspend the development of the ALQ-131A electronic warfare system, and our army has also canceled the purchase item at the same time. There is no budget investment or loss, which is confirmed by the US side.” The Taiwan military official further stated,” Our army has used the same equipment configuration as the US Army in accordance with the resolution of the legislation. As for the newly purchased F-16V Blk70 fighter aircraft’s electronic warfare equipment, we’ve requested the US side for the best solutions in respect of budget, schedule, performance, logistics, and maintenance, to ensure the advantages of electronic warfare and meet the needs of the future battlefield. We urge people to rest assured.”
The Taiwan Air Force demonstrated the F-16V Blk20 fighter for the first time earlier this year, but it did not mount any of the active or active electronic combat pods purchased or to be purchased, causing public concerns on how the ALQ-131 case progressed.
This statement of the Taiwan Army missed a major oversight, that is, the investment in the development of the special ALQ-131A FMS pod in the year was for the Taiwan Air Force’s F-16V Blk20 fighter aircraft currently being constructed in Taiwan, not for the F-16V Blk70 fighter newly purchased last year, the official statement of Taiwan has deliberately avoided how to deal with the electric warfare pods of the F-16V Blk20 fighter. Instead, it mentions the details of the newly purchased F-16V Blk70. This type of transfer of focus has actually shown some irregularities in procurement and budgeting.
The standard electric warfare pod used by the US military’s current F-16 fighter is ALQ-211. However, the Taiwan side insisted on cooperating with the US military to develop a new generation of ALQ-131A FMS pods on the grounds that “Pakistan also uses this type of pods” and for reasons such as “disclosure of secrets” and “too old configuration”. Today, the U.S. military has officially announced the abandonment of this type of pod, and Taiwan has suddenly become an “international orphan.” The only solution for the future solution is to reuse the ALQ-211 type electric warfare pod that is used by both the US and Pakistan.
The U.S. military stopped developing the ALQ-131A pods, which embarrassed the investing Taiwan military and caused corrections from Taiwan’s supervision authority. (Northrop Grumman)
Looking back in February 2019, when there was an air battle between India and Pakistan. Pakistan announced that it had shot down one Su-30MKI and one MiG-21 BisD fighter from India. Among them, the wreckage of the MiG-21 BisD type that has been shot down has proven that Pakistan used F-16 AIM-120 active medium-range air-to-air missiles to shoot down Indian warplanes. In this air battle, India also announced its radar chart, which proved that the Indian Air Force shot down a Pakistani F-16, but after the inventory check, Pakistan did not lose any F-16 fighter fleet, so this could because that Pakistan’s Air Force used its ALQ-211 (V) 4/9 fighter pod to make the Indian Air Force’s early-warning aircraft detect “false targets” during the engagement and mistakenly believed that it had shot down an F-16 fighter. The powerful functions of the equipment can be seen, not only maintaining the safety of the fighter itself but also making the enemy misjudge the war situation.
Pakistan used the ALQ-221 (V) 4/9 electronic warfare pods and defeated the Indian Air Force in the air battle between India and Pakistan early last year. It can be seen that although it is a downgraded version, it still has powerful functions. (ITT)
However, in 2011, when the United States announced its cooperation with Taiwan on the “Fengzhan Project”, it also announced that it had sold it to Taiwan’s ALQ-211 (V) 9 (same type as Pakistan F-16A / B fighters), ALQ-131, and ALQ-184 – three types of electronic warfare pods which are equipped with the electronic countermeasures mentioned above. At that time, the Taiwan Air Force chose ALQ-131 because the US military originally planned to standardize this pod, making it the standard electric warfare pod for the US F-16 fleet. However, due to the budget of the United States Air Force, the upgrade case of the F-16 fleet was queued to the back end. Therefore, the US military has withdrawn the ALQ-131 pod plan, and the related system budget has been cut. Developers required Taiwan to pay the full amount of development funds, which became a dilemma of “only 12 sets for a 42-set budget”, which caused the Taiwan Air Force to be corrected by its “Supervision Authority” at that time.
Therefore, in the electronic warfare system of the F-16V Blk70 purchase case in 2019, in the US-listed the export list, and its electronic warfare system was replaced by the ALQ-211 series. But this ALQ-211 is not the same the “ALQ-211”. The main difference is that the original ALQ-211 (V) 9 series was an external pod cabin specially developed for F-16A/B fighters. As the F-16A/B’s body is small, and the structure on the back can’t withstand, for example, the CFT aircraft back type fuel tank and the fighter humpback Dorsal Avionics Compartment, so the pod compartment must be externally mounted. But the newly purchased F-16V Blk70 belongs to the next generation of F-16C/D fighters. The structure on the back of the aircraft can be equipped with a built-in electric warfare pod cabin. A single-seat aircraft is placed behind the cockpit, while a two-seater aircraft uses the “hump” structure. CFT can be installed at the same time, so the combat power is stronger than Taiwan’s current modified F-16V Blk20. Since the pod mount of the electronic warfare is omitted, the fighter can add many air-to-air missiles and carry more firepower.
The two types of ALQ-211 (V) 4/9 fighter pod sold by the United States to Pakistan are not equipped with “digital radio frequency memory” (DRFM) technology. This technology can use high-bandwidth high-speed analog / digital converters to convert received radar wave into digital data and stored in its memory. Utilizing the feature that digital data is stored for a long time without distortion, this type of electronic warfare jammer can simulate fake signals of fighters such as fake replacements and return them to the enemy. This technology can almost defeat the anti-electric warfare anti-jamming function of most radars in the current arms market, and it’s said to be able to counter stealth fighters and ultra-long-range air-to-air missiles (such as J-20 and PL-15 missiles) and other weapons, which the United States regards as top military secrets, have not been opened to Pakistan. However, the ALQ-211 electronic warfare equipment purchased by Taiwan today does not restrict or cancel DRFM technology, so its performance is the same as that of US military users. Under this premise, the use of ALQ-211 has not caused doubts such as “disclosure”.
Future air warfare is a world of airborne electronic deception, interference and active electronic attack. In traditional air warfare, tactical actions such as fighting, tumbling, and rear-end collisions must first be conducted through electronic warfare attacks. Although the United States has not agreed to allow F-35 to be sold to Taiwan because of related factors such as Taiwan’s defense budget, it has given Taiwan the offensive electronic warfare equipment at the same level as F-35. This can be interpreted from an overview of some strategic aspects.
However, the Taiwan Air Force has been frustrated when it insisted on using ALQ-131A FMS. Now, the goose is cooked. Are the modified F-16V Blk20 fighters also using ALQ-211 (V) 9 type with DRFM technology War Pod? This will be an important case for the current legislative authority of Taiwan to severely question the Taiwan Air Force, and “Taiwan’s defense secrets involved cannot be underestimated”, said Chen Zongyi. “This is also the real reason why the Taiwan Ministry of Defense has recently hyped up the KMT legislators’ ‘requiring aircraft data’ and other related issues.”