Taiwan Adds Three Advanced F-16V Block 70 Fighters, Strengthening Eastern Air Defences Amid Growing Chinese Military Pressure Across Taiwan Strait

Taiwan has received three additional F-16C Block 70 fighter jets at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung, bringing the number of newly manufactured aircraft delivered to the island to five and advancing a long-delayed programme aimed at strengthening its air defence capabilities amid growing military pressure from China.

The three single-seat fighters landed at the southeastern air base at approximately 11 a.m. local time, just over five weeks after the first two aircraft arrived on October 2. The latest delivery provides Taiwan’s Air Force with additional aircraft for acceptance procedures, conversion training and preparations for eventual operational deployment.

The aircraft increase the number of delivered fighters to five out of the 66 ordered under Taiwan’s approximately US$8 billion procurement programme. This represents around 7.6 per cent of the planned fleet, leaving most of the new-build aircraft still to be delivered as Taipei continues to rely heavily on its upgraded F-16V fighters to respond to increasing activity by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

The latest arrival also fulfils an assurance made by Defence Minister Wellington Koo in October, when he indicated that the initial two aircraft would not be the only fighters delivered before the end of the year.

Taiwan’s Air Force Command has described production and deliveries as stable, saying the service intends to gradually transition the new aircraft towards initial operational capability. However, the programme’s effectiveness will ultimately depend on the speed of subsequent deliveries, pilot qualification, maintenance capacity and the integration of advanced electronic warfare systems.

The second batch represents a significant development for Taiwan’s air force, particularly because the aircraft are being assigned to Chihhang Air Base, which provides a strategic operating location on the island’s eastern side, facing the Philippine Sea.

Major Chiang Hui-yu, Taiwan’s first female F-16 fighter pilot, reportedly flew aircraft 6732 during the trans-Pacific transfer, leading the latest group of aircraft from the United States to Taiwan.

The other two fighters, identified as aircraft 6729 and 6731, followed the lead aircraft during the journey to Chihhang.

The transfer demonstrated the logistical coordination required to move modern combat aircraft across the Pacific. The fighters travelled from Lockheed Martin’s production facility in Greenville, South Carolina, through Fort Worth before continuing westward towards Taiwan.

The reported ferry route included Hawaii and Guam, with support from US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft. Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii served as an inspection and maintenance stop before the fighters continued towards the western Pacific.

Guam provided another staging point before the aircraft reached Taiwan’s eastern coast.

The operation required coordination among aircraft crews, tanker operators, maintenance personnel and military authorities responsible for arranging fuel, servicing and access to airspace along the route.

The aircraft reportedly travelled with conformal fuel tanks and three external fuel tanks, allowing them to carry additional fuel for the long-distance journey.

Each fighter carried three external tanks, mounted on two wing stations and the centreline, while conformal fuel tanks added fuel capacity along the aircraft’s fuselage.

The conformal tanks can provide approximately 3,000 pounds of additional fuel without occupying underwing weapons stations. This arrangement offers operational flexibility, particularly for an air force without its own dedicated aerial refuelling tanker fleet.

For Taiwan, the ability to extend fighter endurance is important because aircraft may need to conduct extended patrols, respond to multiple approaches and maintain sufficient fuel reserves when operating from airfields vulnerable to missile attacks.

However, a successful peacetime ferry operation does not necessarily demonstrate that the same logistical network could function under wartime conditions, when access to tanker aircraft, maintenance facilities and regional bases could be disrupted.

Chihhang Air Base occupies an important geographical position east of Taiwan’s Central Mountain Range.

The location provides Taiwan with an additional fighter operating position facing the Philippine Sea, creating greater geographical depth for air defence operations beyond the island’s western approaches and the Taiwan Strait.

The Central Mountain Range offers some geographical protection against threats approaching directly from the west. However, it does not eliminate the vulnerability of eastern airfields to long-range missiles or other forms of attack.

The eastern coastline is strategically important because Chinese military aircraft and naval vessels increasingly operate beyond Taiwan’s eastern approaches. Such movements can force Taiwan’s military to monitor several directions simultaneously rather than concentrating its surveillance and interception resources exclusively on the Taiwan Strait.

Aircraft operating from Chihhang could respond more directly to some of these eastern and southern approaches, including activity around the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea with the Philippine Sea.

Additional endurance could also help Taiwanese fighters maintain surveillance and shadow military aircraft or ships during periods of heightened tension.

The strategic value of the eastern deployment, however, depends on more than the number of aircraft stationed there. Fuel supplies, weapons storage, maintenance facilities, ground crews and runway availability will determine how frequently the fighters can operate.

In a conflict, Chinese missile attacks could target airfields, command facilities and supporting infrastructure. Even aircraft that survive an initial attack would require functioning runways, fuel supplies and ground equipment to resume operations.

Runway repair, aircraft dispersal and mobile air-defence systems would therefore become essential elements of Taiwan’s ability to preserve its fighter operations.

The new F-16C/D Block 70 aircraft, marketed as the F-16V configuration, incorporate several improvements over Taiwan’s older F-16A/B Block 20 fighters.

One of the most important systems is the AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR), an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar designed to provide improved detection, tracking and targeting capabilities.

The radar can track multiple targets and switch between different radar functions more rapidly than older mechanically scanned systems.

Taiwan has already upgraded approximately 140 existing F-16A/B aircraft with modern avionics, including the APG-83 radar and Link 16 tactical data-link capabilities.

Consequently, the new-build aircraft’s principal contribution is not simply the introduction of a completely different radar system. It is the addition of new airframes with longer structural lives, improved endurance and modernised mission systems.

The Block 70 aircraft have a design service life of approximately 12,000 flight hours, providing Taiwan with additional capacity for training, interception and routine patrol missions.

Their engines are also different from those installed in Taiwan’s older F-16A/B Block 20 aircraft.

The new fighters use the General Electric F110-GE-129 afterburning turbofan, producing approximately 29,000 pounds of thrust. The engine provides additional performance margins, particularly when the aircraft carry heavy fuel and weapons loads.

The cockpit incorporates a modern mission computer and a larger central display, allowing pilots to manage radar information, navigation data and weapons systems more effectively.

The aircraft also feature an Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS), which can initiate an automatic recovery manoeuvre when the aircraft approaches terrain in a potentially fatal flight path.

These improvements are intended to increase operational effectiveness while reducing certain risks associated with demanding training and combat flying.

One important issue surrounding the initial deliveries concerns the integration of the AN/ALQ-254(V)1 Viper Shield electronic warfare system.

The internally installed Viper Shield is designed to detect radar threats and provide electronic countermeasures against hostile radar-guided weapons.

Unlike some external electronic warfare pods, its internal configuration allows the aircraft to preserve an external station for fuel tanks or weapons.

However, reports have indicated that the first aircraft arrived without the complete operational Viper Shield capability, raising questions about the precise electronic warfare configuration available on individual aircraft.

The distinction is important because installing the physical hardware does not automatically mean that the complete system is ready for operational deployment. Software integration, testing and certification are also necessary.

Against a technologically advanced adversary such as China, electronic warfare could play a decisive role in determining whether Taiwanese fighters can survive engagements involving modern radar-guided missiles.

The F-16V is compatible with AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) and AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles, providing beyond-visual-range and close-range engagement options.

The aircraft’s potential performance against Chinese fighters carrying advanced missiles such as the PL-15 would nevertheless depend on several factors, including radar detection, electronic countermeasures, missile launch geometry, pilot training and tactical positioning.

Taiwan’s F-16 procurement packages also cover precision-strike weapons, including GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions, GBU-54 Laser JDAM and AGM-88B High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles.

Compatibility with weapons such as the AGM-84 Harpoon also provides a potential maritime strike capability, subject to aircraft certification, available inventories and targeting information.

Link 16 connectivity offers another important advantage by allowing compatible aircraft and air-defence platforms to exchange tactical information and maintain a more comprehensive picture of the battlefield.

Although the arrival of additional aircraft increases Taiwan’s inventory, the fighters cannot immediately be counted as fully operational combat assets.

The receiving 7th Tactical Fighter Wing must complete inspections, acceptance procedures and local training before the aircraft can be incorporated into regular operational schedules.

The programme also includes two-seat F-16D aircraft designed to support conversion training and supervised instruction.

The new aircraft share many avionics systems with Taiwan’s upgraded F-16V fleet, which should make the transition easier for experienced pilots.

Nevertheless, differences in engine performance, fuel configurations, software and operating procedures will require additional training.

Ground personnel must also receive specialised instruction to maintain the aircraft, manage spare parts and support the more advanced electronic systems.

As additional fighters arrive, the demand for maintenance facilities, qualified technicians and replacement components will increase.

Initial operational capability will represent an important milestone, indicating that the receiving unit can perform a defined range of missions with available aircraft, trained personnel and necessary equipment.

However, achieving initial operational capability is different from sustaining combat operations over several days or responding simultaneously to threats across multiple sectors.

The five delivered aircraft will initially provide only a limited pool of available fighters because some will be assigned to training, inspection and maintenance.

The United States approved Taiwan’s purchase of 66 new F-16 Block 70 fighters in 2019, with deliveries originally expected between 2023 and 2026.

The programme has experienced substantial delays associated with production-line relocation, pandemic-era supply-chain disruptions and software integration challenges.

The manufacturing operation was relocated from Fort Worth, Texas, to Greenville, South Carolina, creating additional challenges as production processes and supporting systems were established at the new facility.

Defence Minister Wellington Koo previously indicated that 63 aircraft were on the production line, illustrating the scale of manufacturing activity underway.

However, aircraft at different stages of production, testing and acceptance cannot be counted as operational deliveries to Taiwan.

Additional production shifts could help accelerate output, but each fighter must still undergo factory testing, acceptance procedures and preparations for its trans-Pacific transfer.

The remaining aircraft are expected to arrive over an extended period, potentially pushing completion towards 2027 or 2028 rather than the original 2026 target.

Koo has said Washington has demonstrated goodwill in discussions over the delays. The contract does not include financial penalties, but possible compensation arrangements, including additional spare parts or extended support, could help improve the fleet’s long-term availability.

For Taiwan, the delays mean that its upgraded F-16V aircraft must continue carrying most of the operational burden while the new-build fleet gradually enters service.

The island ultimately expects to operate approximately 200 upgraded and newly manufactured F-16V fighters, although the number available for missions at any particular time will depend on aircraft serviceability, pilot availability and maintenance requirements.

China has repeatedly opposed US arms sales to Taiwan, describing them as interference in its internal affairs. Washington, meanwhile, maintains its policy of providing Taiwan with defensive capabilities under its domestic legal framework.

The latest delivery therefore carries both military and political significance, demonstrating continued defence cooperation between Washington and Taipei despite Beijing’s objections.

The next major test will be whether Taiwan can convert the arriving aircraft into a reliable force capable of generating repeated sorties from eastern air bases under sustained military pressure.

The three additional fighters strengthen the foundation of Taiwan’s eastern air-defence posture, but five delivered aircraft represent only a small beginning for an order of 66.

Ultimately, the programme’s contribution to cross-strait deterrence will depend not simply on how many aircraft reach Taiwan, but on whether the island can train sufficient pilots, maintain its advanced systems, protect its airfields and sustain combat operations when faced with China’s substantially larger military aviation force.

• Taiwan’s F-16C/D Block 70