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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
RSS