The goal of upgrading 22 of Taiwan’s more than 140 F-16A/B jets to F-16Vs this year is still on schedule, an air force report said.
The report was submitted to the Legislative Yuan for yesterday’s hearing on military modernization projects.
As of Friday, 19 aircraft have been upgraded, the report said.
In 2016, the air force launched a program to upgrade all its F-16A/Bs to F-16Vs, which are equipped with more advanced avionics, including the APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar, helmet-mounted cueing system, and other flight management and electronic warfare systems.
The state-run Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) and the US-based defense firm Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-16, were commissioned to complete the program before 2023.
According to media reports, two older F-16s were upgraded by Lockheed Martin in the US, while the rest are being modified in Taiwan by AIDC with Lockheed Martin’s technical support.
In December last year, AIDC and Lockheed Martin forged a strategic partnership to set up an F-16 maintenance center in Taiwan, the main task of which is to upgrade the F-16A/Bs.
The NT$110 billion (US$3.86 billion) facility opened in Taichung in August. It also has the task of maintaining and repairing the 66 F-16Vs Taiwan purchased from the US last year when the aircraft are delivered.
AIDC was only able to upgrade 11 F-16A/Bs last year, despite a target of 16 aircraft, the report said.
The air force blamed the delay on unexpected hitches relating to the jets and a lack of staff at AIDC, the report said.
To avoid any more delays, Lockheed Martin has sent more engineers and AIDC in October increased its production line workforce to 700, the reported added.
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