Flight testing of US F-16V jets built for Taiwan begins this month, an air force official said yesterday, but warned of “very serious delays” in delivery.
The US$8 billion deal for 66 warplanes was approved during US President Donald Trump’s first term in the White House, with delivery scheduled for 2026.
Speaking at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Air Force Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Lee Ching-jan (李慶然) said flight tests of the new fighters would be carried out “earlier” than planned this month.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
“For now, 54 aircraft have entered the assembly line, compared with 50 in October. The progress is being accelerated,” Lee said.
Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) last month said that Lockheed Martin, the US defense contractor building the jets, had accelerated production, running two shifts every weekday. “There are 50 aircraft on the assembly line at the same time, and some airframes have already completed structural assembly,” Koo said.
Koo said it would be “challenging” for all the aircraft to be delivered in next year.
The F-16V — a fourth-generation multi-role fighter — is a significantly upgraded version of Taiwan’s aging F-16A/B jets. Taiwan finished upgrading 141 older F-16s to the V standard in late 2023.
In other news, Thunder Tiger Group, a Taiwanese drone manufacturer, said it simultaneously operated six SeaShark unmanned surface vessels from a single control station during a sea trial late last month, calling the operation a major milestone in Taiwan’s uncrewed vessel development.
The Taichung-based company said in a statement yesterday that the sea trial at Dapeng Bay in Pingtung County on Nov. 28 showcased its advanced control and artificial intelligence systems, and successfully carried out multiple tactical formations and rapid, second-level maneuvers.
The 6m-long drone boats, named SeaShark, maintained 100 percent connection stability under electromagnetic interference by using a UK-made military anti-interference frequency-hopping communications system, the company said.
The vessels also feature a low-radar-cross-section hull design that reduces its chance of detection, it said.
Thunder Tiger said its SeaShark range carries precision sensors, swarm-control technology, and a stable communications network capable of real-time information exchange and dynamic adjustments.
“The SeaShark series of suicide uncrewed vessels will become the sharpest asymmetric vehicular weapon for defending the Taiwan Strait,” it said.
The company hopes to expand cooperative testing with the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and the Ministry of National Defense to meet operational needs.
The company said it aims to secure a defense contract next year, citing its high localization rate, completed military-specification verification and production readiness.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
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