Taiwan Receives First F-16V Fighter Jets From US — SkimNews
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- Taiwan received its first two F-16V Block 70 fighters at Chihhang Air Base near Taitung on Friday, opening deliveries of 66 jets ordered in 2019 under an $8 billion Lockheed Martin sale struck seven years ago.
- Defense Minister Wellington Koo said more aircraft are progressing through production and testing, confirming additional deliveries before year's end after the schedule slipped several months due to reported software issues.
- President Trump has refused to sign off on a separate $14 billion arms package for Taipei, telling reporters in May it was a "very good negotiating chip" with Beijing — one week before hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington.
- The F-16Vs carry upgraded radar and avionics specifically built to track China's stealthy J-20s, yet Washington has declined to provide its top-tier F-22 or F-35 fighters.
- US officials told Reuters a Chinese invasion of Taiwan before 2028 is considered "increasingly unlikely" in Washington, even as Taiwan's air force scrambles almost daily against aggressive Chinese maneuvers.
- Local spectators gathered at the base perimeter to watch the arrival, and salesman Kimi Chi pointed to a pilot shortage — not hardware — as the most urgent gap, urging better allowances to retain military aviators.
Why it matters: Taiwan's $8 billion Lockheed Martin order is finally delivering hardware, but Trump's simultaneous withholding of a separate $14 billion package — and his own framing of it as a bargaining chip with Xi Jinping one week before the jets landed — leaves Taipei's larger modernization uncertain. Locals cited by AFP flagged pilot shortages as the binding constraint on getting more than 200 F-16Vs airborne.
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