The first of the nation’s 66 F-16 Block 70 jets is soon to roll off the Lockheed-Martin production line in the US, with Taiwan intending to send deputy minister-level officials to attend the event marking its completion, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) told a legislative committee on Thursday.
The US has also provided its preliminary list of who would attend the event, Koo said, adding that it would be inappropriate for him to divulge further information at the meeting of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
The air force plans to send its deputy chief of staff to accompany the deputy minister of national defense to the event, air force Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Wang Te-yang (王德揚) said, adding that it would take place “soon.”
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
With the arrival of the F-16 Block 70, the air force would be operating two variants of the F-16 jets, with the F-16 Block 20 being upgraded after the Feng Chan Project (鳳展計畫), the Ministry of National Defense has said.
New equipment, including the AIM-120D air-to-air missiles outfitted by the air force’s Fourth Tactical Wing 22nd Tactical Fighter Group, has improved the air force’s ability to deter potential aerial invasions, it said.
After a year of training, F-16V jets in the air force’s Fourth and Fifth Tactical Fighter Wings have recently completed training exercises using AGM-88 high-speed anti-radiation missiles simulating attack runs against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) radar facilities, it added.
The ministry is also considering purchasing electronic warfare pods to enhance its fleet of F-16V jets and would be listing the purchase in its fiscal 2026 budget, it said.
In other developments, the military’s five-day combat-readiness exercise is to commence on Monday involving all three services.
The exercise would be unscripted and simulate real combat scenarios, which would better prepare units for a possible invasion, the ministry said.
The military would be monitoring PLA “gray zone” exercises — which might mask potential real invasions — to assess threat levels and would conduct its own combat-readiness drills to prepare for any escalation, Koo said earlier this month.
The ministry said it is also extending the computer-assisted simulation and live exercise sections of this year’s Han Kuang drills to 14 days and 10 days respectively.
The military-affiliated Youth Daily News yesterday reported that the army’s Sixth Army Corps Commander Lieutenant General Chen Wen-hsing (陳文星) on Thursday convened a meeting with staff officers to prepare for the upcoming exercise.
The exercise aims to simulate real combat situations and test troops’ response to unexpected incidents, Chen said.
The goal is to ensure troops would be able to mobilize for warfare immediately, he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
Proposed amendments would forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during school hours in high schools and below, starting from the next school year in August, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Regulations on the Use of Mobile Devices at Educational Facilities up to High Schools (高級中等以下學校校園行動載具使用原則) state that mobile devices — defined as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches or other wearables — should be turned off at school. The changes would stipulate that use of such devices during class is forbidden, and the devices should be handed to a teacher or the school for safekeeping. The amendments also say
CONSISTENT COMMITMENT: The American Institute in Taiwan director said that the US would expand investment and trade relationships to make both nations more prosperous The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said. “The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday. The US would double down on its efforts
RSS