First New F-16V Fighters Set to Arrive in Taiwan, Bolstering Defenses Amid China Pressure
By Ann Wang
TAITUNG, Taiwan, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The first two of 66 new F-16V fighter jets Taiwan ordered in 2019 are set to arrive Friday at an air base on the island's mountainous east coast, after months of delays that have frustrated Taipei and underscored the slow pace of U.S. arms deliveries.
The aircraft are expected to land at Taitung air base, where they will begin reinforcing an air force that scrambles almost daily to shadow China's military. Taiwan, a democratically governed island, faces a rising military threat from Beijing, which claims it as its own territory.
Taipei has repeatedly complained about delays to weapons ordered from the United States, its most important international backer and arms supplier. The F-16V delivery comes as concern grows in Taiwan over the Trump administration's commitment to arming Taipei, even though Washington says its policy has not changed.
Speaking to reporters at parliament in Taipei, Defense Minister Wellington Koo said additional new F-16Vs would arrive soon, without providing details. "Of course we won't only have delivered these two by year-end," he said.
In 2019, the United States approved an $8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16V jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the island's F-16 fleet to more than 200 aircraft. Delivery has been affected by issues including software problems.
The arrival of the first two jets comes almost exactly a week after U.S. President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Trump said in May, after meeting Xi in Beijing, that he was holding a new $14 billion package for Taiwan in abeyance, though he did approve one worth $11 billion in December 2025.
The F-16Vs feature advanced avionics, weapons and radar systems intended to help Taiwan better counter China's air force, including its stealthy J-20 fighters. Taiwan completed an upgrade program for its existing F-16s in 2023.
Washington is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, but the two sides have no formal diplomatic relations. Beijing has repeatedly told Washington to stop arming Taiwan. China's foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the arrival of the F-16s.
"We continue standing with friends and allies across the Indo-Pacific to advance our shared prosperity, security, and values -- that includes Taiwan," a U.S. State Department spokesperson said when asked about the new F-16s.
Most countries will not sell weapons to Taiwan for fear of angering China. Even the United States has been unwilling to provide Taiwan with its most advanced fighters, such as the F-22 or F-35, and Taiwan has no direct answer to China's new stealth fighters.
The delivery is small in number but symbolically significant. It highlights both Washington's role as Taipei's main arms supplier and the bottlenecks that have left Taiwan waiting for key systems. For Taipei, the F-16Vs are meant to narrow a qualitative gap with China's increasingly modern air force, though they are not a direct counter to stealth aircraft. The timing may also draw scrutiny in Beijing, coming so soon after Trump and Xi met, as Washington seeks to balance support for Taiwan against broader U.S.-China relations.
(Reporting by Ann Wang in Taitung, Fabian Hamacher in Taipei and Ben Blanchard in Kaohsiung; Editing by Tom Hogue)