Taiwan hopeful of receiving all 66 F-16V jets by end of 2026: MND

Taipei, July 13 (CNA) Previous technical difficulties related to Taiwan's order for 66 F-16V fighter jets have been overcome and the government is hopeful it will take delivery of all of the planes by the end of 2026, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) has said.

The update was given in a written response Friday to a recent query from opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) about a backlog in the United States' delivery of US$20 billion worth of weapons systems that Taiwan has purchased.

The delay has been partly due to the U.S. prioritizing the supply of the weapons Taiwan needs to Ukraine.

Citing a Wall Street Journal report, Lo said the delayed items include F-16Vs, Harpoon coastal defense systems, HIMARS rocket launchers, and Patriot air defense missile systems.

The MND responded that production of the F-16V jets Taiwan ordered was delayed due to development and software integration issues relating to equipment Taiwan wants installed in the aircraft.

Those issues have now been resolved and production of the jets is underway, the MND said.

The jets should be delivered before the December 2026 deadline as agreed in the contract, the MND added.

The MND said it has been working closely with a team of U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense to ensure that delivery of the weapons, including the Harpoon missiles, the HIMARS rocket systems, and the Patriot air defense missile systems stays on schedule.

Among the provisions in the contract are compensation clauses that set out punishments for contractors who do not meet their delivery deadlines for non-force majeure reasons, the MND said.

Under the clauses, Taiwan would first identify damages it has sustained as a result of the delays and issue a demand for compensation to the U.S. government through existing bilateral security channels, it said.

Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) told lawmakers of the Foreign and National Defense Committee on June 17 that Taiwan expects to take delivery of two F-16V prototypes in the fourth quarter of this year and that the jets will undergo flight tests.

Taiwan has demanded that the U.S. fill the order of 66 jets by the end of 2026, Koo said at the time.