资料图：台军F16战机

13 May 2010 By Jon Grevatt
2010年5月12日 作者 乔恩·格里瓦特

A United States-Taiwan business group has called on Washington to approve Taiwan's request to purchase 66 F/16C/D Block 50/52 fighter aircraft, arguing that the island's air defence capabilities are deteriorating rapidly.

美台商业协会已经要求华盛顿同意台湾地区购买66架F/16C/D批次50/52战斗机的请求，台湾岛的空中防御能力正在快速地恶化。

The US-Taiwan Business Council said in a report published on 11 May - entitled 'The balance of air power in the Taiwan Strait' - that such an acquisition would enable Taiwan to assume a position of strength to negotiate its future with China. Such an outcome, it added, would "certainly serve the national interest of the US".

美台商业协会在5月11日出版的一份报告中说- 题名‘台湾海峡空中力量的平衡’- 这样的一个获得会使台湾地区能够呈现一个实力地位去和中国大陆商议它的未来。一个如此结果，它更多地，会“无疑地为美国国家利益服务”。

Taiwan first requested procurement of the F-16s in 2006, although Washington has rejected a letter of request (LoR) for price and availability for the aircraft on numerous occasions.

台湾地区在2006年首次请求F-16的采购，虽然华盛顿已经因为对飞机价格和可用性在很多的场合上一直拒绝请求信（LoR）。

The report said: "Taiwan will be experiencing a significant decline in its air defence capability over the next several years due to the impending retirement of obsolete F-5s, the potential withdrawal of up to a squadron of its F-16A/Bs in an upgrade programme, and the mothballing of its high-cost Mirage 2000 fleet. This will result in a serious shortfall of modern fighters."

报告说：“台湾地区由于它陈旧的F-5即将退役将经历一个数年之久严重的空防能力衰退，有可能撤回它多达一个中队F-16A/B的升级计划，并且封存它高费用幻影-2000机群。这将会造成现代化战斗的一个严重不足。”

Rupert Hammond-Chambers, the president of the US-Taiwan Business Council and author of its report, told Jane's on 11 May that he believed the delay in approving the sale of the Lockheed Martin-built F-16s can be attributed to an attempt in Washington to lessen Chinese anger over sales of US military equipment to Taiwan.

韩儒伯（Rupert J. Hammond-Chambers），美台商业协会会长和它的报告作者，在5月11日告诉简氏他相信推迟赞成的洛克希德马丁公司制造的F-16销售能归因于华盛顿政府的一种尝试，去减少中国大陆对向台湾地区销售美国军事装备的怒气。