The Ministry of National Defense on Friday said it was aiming to have its first new F-16V jets delivered from the US by the end of this year, citing “acute fluctuations in the international situation” as the reason for the delay in receiving them.
The US in 2019 approved an US$8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 jets to Taiwan, a deal that would increase the nation’s F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets, the largest in Asia, to strengthen its defense in the face of a stepped-up threat from China, which views Taiwan as its own territory.
The nation has been converting 141 F-16A/B jets into the F-16V type and has ordered 66 new F-16Vs, which have advanced avionics, weapons and radar systems, to improve its ability to take on the Chinese air force, including its J-20 stealth fighter.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
However, Taiwan has said it experienced delays in the delivery of the new F-16Vs and problems such as software issues.
In an update on the deliveries, the ministry said the first batch of new F-16Vs was meant to have been sent in the third quarter of this year.
“Because of acute fluctuations in the international situation, which have resulted in a compound impact such as delays in the deliveries of some suppliers and adjustments to the US assembly schedule, there has been a partial adjustment in when they are to leave the factory,” it said in a statement.
The ministry said it would “strive to complete the shipment of the first aircraft in the fourth quarter.”
The air force would keep a close watch on the production schedule and make factory visits, to ensure the deliveries are completed by the end of 2026, it added.
Lockheed Martin told Reuters it was “grateful for the trust Taiwan has placed in us across its F-16 programs.”
“In partnership with the US government, Lockheed Martin is focused on developing F-16 capabilities,” the company added.
The US Department of State said long delivery dates were not a Taiwan-specific challenge.
“The US government is actively reviewing our policies and processes to ensure that we move arms sales cases as quickly as possible, particularly for Taiwan,” the department said in a statement.
Taiwan has reported delays with US weapons deliveries, such as Stinger anti-aircraft missiles since 2022, as manufacturers send supplies to Ukraine to help it battle Russian forces, and the issue has concerned US lawmakers.
Taiwan’s air force is well-trained, but some of its fighter jets are aging, including its French-made fleet of Mirage 2000s first received in 1997. One crashed into the sea on Tuesday during a training exercise, although the pilot was rescued.
Taiwanese air force has repeatedly scrambled to see off Chinese military aircraft flying near the nation in the past five years.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
RSS