Lockheed Martin delays delivery of 66 upgraded F-16V Block 70/72 fighters to Taiwan

Taiwan will not be able to receive its first F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters on time. This was announced by the island nation's defence minister, Chiu Kuo-cheng.

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The reason for the delay was problems in the supply chain that are preventing Lockheed Martin from delivering the planes to the customer on time. Taiwan's defence ministry is promising to minimise the damage and calling on the US to "make up for the shortcomings" by ensuring priority delivery of spare parts for the existing F-16 fleet.

Taiwan has begun converting 141 F-16A/B aircraft into F-16Vs. The island nation has also ordered 66 F-16 Viper Block 70/72 fighters. The US State Department has approved the $8 billion deal in 2019.

The upgraded fourth-generation F-16 Viper fighter is equipped with new avionics capabilities that match those of the fifth-generation F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lighting II aircraft. The Link 16 standard allows the F-16V to exchange information in real time with the F-22 and F-35, as well as Patriot surface-to-air missile systems and long-range radar detection aircraft.

Source: Reuters