Taiwan Receives First Two Long-Delayed U.S. F-16V Fighter Jets

TAIPEI, Oct. 2 (TodayViralUSA) — Taiwan took delivery on Friday of the first two F-16V Block 70 fighter jets from a long-delayed U.S. arms package, the island’s air force said, beginning fulfillment of an order placed in 2019 as China maintains near-daily military pressure around Taiwan.

The jets landed at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung, according to the Ministry of National Defense. Sixty-three additional aircraft from the same purchase remain to be delivered. The Associated Press reported that the F-16V order accounts for roughly $8 billion of nearly $30 billion in backlogged U.S. defense sales to Taipei, based on figures tracked by Taiwan Security Monitor at George Mason University.

Production and supply-chain problems contributed to years of delay. Taiwan relies heavily on U.S. weapons to modernize its air force while Beijing claims the self-ruled island as its territory and regularly sends aircraft and ships near its airspace and waters.

Backlog and a stalled follow-on package

Defense Minister Wellington Koo said earlier this week that Taipei continues active talks with Washington on additional sales. A separate proposed package valued at about $14 billion has not advanced since President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in May, AP reported. Xi has personally pressed Trump to curb arms transfers to Taiwan, and Beijing routinely condemns such sales as interference in what it calls an internal matter.

The Block 70 variant features upgraded radar, avionics and weapons interfaces compared with earlier F-16 models already in Taiwanese service. Military planners on the island view the fleet expansion as a core part of deterrence while acknowledging that deliveries alone do not resolve the larger strategic imbalance with the People’s Liberation Army.

For the Trump administration, the arrival of the first jets tests how far Washington will go in clearing the backlog without further straining U.S.-China ties. For Taipei, each completed transfer reduces uncertainty created by manufacturing delays and political pauses in Washington.

China did not immediately issue a detailed reaction specifically to Friday’s landings, but its diplomatic and military posture on Taiwan arms sales has been consistent: oppose new packages, increase pressure around the island, and warn that U.S. support emboldens what Beijing labels separatist forces.

The two aircraft mark a tangible start on a deal announced under a previous U.S. administration. How quickly the remaining 63 jets arrive — and whether the larger follow-on package moves forward — will shape Taiwan’s air combat inventory heading into the next several years of regional tension.