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.
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