Taiwan's first two F-16V Block 70 fighter jets touched down at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung County on October 2, 2026, the first deliveries under a long-delayed U.S. arms sale of 66 new jets valued at about US$8 billion.
Both aircraft, tail numbers 6727 and 6728, are single-seat variants. The Air Force Command Headquarters said the service will now move into aircraft acceptance and transition training, rolling out readiness work in stages so that the new fighters can be built into an operational combat capability step by step.
Lai Hails A Boost To Taiwan's Air Defense
Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te described the arrival as "an important development in strengthening Taiwan's air defense capabilities," according to Reuters. Defense Minister Koo Li-hsiung said Beijing's "intention to annex Taiwan by force has never changed" and indicated that more F-16Vs would arrive soon, without offering a timeline.
The jets reached Taiwan after a trans-Pacific ferry flight that staged through Hawaii and Guam. They had been expected in late August or early September but sat in Hawaii for weeks, a delay Reuters linked to software issues.
63 Jets Remain On The U.S. Production Line
According to the air force, 63 F-16 Block 70s are currently on Lockheed Martin's production line in the United States, and some of them have already reached the delivery stage.
The service said it will keep working with the U.S. program office overseeing the sale and will manage the ferry flights home against set delivery milestones, rather than committing to a fixed date for each batch.
The Block 70 is the most advanced new-build version of the F-16. It carries the AN/APG-83 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, a new mission computer, an upgraded electronic warfare suite, and can be fitted with conformal fuel tanks for extended range.
A New Fighter Wing Built Around The Block 70
The air force laid the groundwork for the new fleet well before the first jets arrived. On December 1, 2023, it stood up the 7th Tactical Fighter Wing and began forming the wing's squadrons in three phases.
Pilots and maintenance personnel were sent to the United States in batches for conversion training. As more aircraft return to Taiwan, those crews will take over acceptance of the new jets with the aim of bringing their full performance into service quickly.
Chihhang, on Taiwan's Pacific-facing east coast, previously hosted F-5E/F aircraft used for training. With the Block 70s in place, the base is set to become the backbone of air defense in eastern Taiwan.
Years Of Delays Shadow The US$8 Billion Deal
Taiwan's military is buying the 66 jets under a program named Fengxiang, with a budget of more than NT$247.2 billion. Washington approved the sale in August 2019.
The first F-16V was originally due to roll off the production line in the fourth quarter of 2023, but the COVID-19 pandemic held that milestone back until 2025. The air force still planned to take delivery of all 66 jets by the end of 2026, yet Lt. Gen. Li Ching-jan, chief of staff of the Air Force Command Headquarters, acknowledged for the first time in 2025 that "our assessment is that the risk is quite high."
Supply chain disruptions and software integration problems have since compounded the setbacks, and full delivery is now expected to stretch into 2028. The military had also said the first batch would reach Taiwan before the end of the third quarter of 2026, a target it missed by two days.
Once all 66 jets are delivered, they will join the 139 older F-16A/B fighters that Taiwan has already upgraded to the F-16V standard, giving the island a combined fleet of 205 F-16s, one of the largest F-16V fleets in the world.
The new aircraft arrive as Taiwan's air force scrambles almost daily to monitor Chinese military aircraft operating around the island.
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