First F-16 Block 70 fighters arrive in Taiwan

Two Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 fighters landed at Chihhang air base around midday local time after flying from the United States, according to Taiwan's official news outlet. It is the first time new fighters have reached the island in more than a quarter century.

The pair are the first of 66 aircraft ordered in a deal finalised in December 2019. Delivery had been expected around 2023, but production issues at Lockheed's Greenville plant pushed back timelines for Taiwan and other customers waiting on the latest F-16 version.

Speculation the handover was near surfaced in late August, when the two jets, carrying registrations 6727 and 6728, left Greenville. Washington had held up Taiwan's request for new fighters for years over concerns about angering Beijing, which regards Taiwan as its own territory.

The last new fighters to reach Taiwan before this delivery arrived in 1997, the first two of an order for 150 F-16s placed in 1992. The current acquisition follows a modernisation effort completed in 2023 by Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation, which upgraded 139 Republic of China Air Force F-16s to the F-16V standard.

That configuration brings older airframes close to the capabilities of newly built Block 70/72 jets. Improvements include the Northrop Grumman APG-83 radar, which uses active electronically scanned array technology, a more capable mission computer, updated cockpit displays and avionics, and the option for electronic countermeasure survivability systems.