DEFENSE/Taiwanese officials shown 1st F-16V jet due this year

Taipei, March 21 (CNA) Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said Saturday, adding that the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year.

A delegation led by Vice Defense Minister Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin's F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft.

The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the U.S. before being delivered to Taiwan, the ministry said.

Also in attendance were Taiwan's Representative to the U.S. Alexander Yui (俞大㵢), Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff Tien Chung-yi (田忠儀), and Wei Chung-hsing (魏中興), head of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Defense Mission to the USA.

Lockheed Martin has assigned several hundred personnel to assemble the remaining aircraft, with no bottlenecks in parts supply or staffing, and is operating a two-shift production system, according to the ministry.

As the F-16V is a newly configured variant, its systems and software require ongoing calibration through repeated test flights, with feedback used to refine the production process, the company said.

The ministry said it will continue working with the U.S. through existing security cooperation mechanisms to speed up delivery of the aircraft.