Taiwan commissions its most advanced fighter jets to counter Beijing threat

Name: Taiwan denounces mainland China for ‘over the top’ flights into island’s air defence zone
Uploaded: 2021-11-18T11:00:10.000Z
Description: Taiwan denounces mainland China for ‘over the top’ flights into island’s air defence zone

F-16V jets are an upgrade for Taiwan, thanks to contract with US manufacturer Lockheed Martin

President Tsai Ing-wen hails benefits for the island’s defence capability, links with the US, and aerospace and defence industries

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen oversees commission of the first squadron of the upgraded F-16V fighters at the Chiayi base. Photo: Reuters

Lawrence Chung

Published: 7:00pm, 18 Nov 2021Updated: 9:13pm, 18 Nov 2021

Taiwan’s air force has commissioned its most advanced fighter jet squadron to boost the island’s defence in the face of growing military threats from Beijing.

The commissioning of the fleet of F-16Vs, attended by Tsai Ing-wen, the island’s president, came during a spike in tensions across the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese military has been sending warplanes to Taiwan’s air defence identification zone almost daily and staging war games nearby to ramp up pressure on the self-ruled island.

“The commissioning not only represents a new page in the history of our air force, but it also has three significant meanings,” Tsai said at a commissioning ceremony on Thursday, going on to outline gains for US-Taiwan cooperation, the island’s aerospace and defence industries, and its defence capability.

It showed the value of Taiwan’s links with the United States, because the jets were upgraded with the help of American manufacturer Lockheed Martin, Tsai said at the air force’s Chiayi base in southwestern Taiwan.

00:00

Taiwan denounces mainland China for ‘over the top’ flights into island’s air defence zone

The Taiwanese air force and plane builder Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) have signed a NT$110 billion (US$4 billion) contract with Lockheed Martin to upgrade the air force’s 141 F-16A/B jets to F-16Vs.

According to the air force, AIDC and Lockheed Martin have so far completed the upgrading of 64 jets.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x