DEFENSE/First two F-16V fighter jets en route to Taiwan: Sources

Taipei, Aug. 19 (CNA) The first two of 66 F-16V Block 70 fighter jets Taiwan has purchased from the United States departed from the U.S. on Aug. 17 Eastern Time and are expected to arrive in Taiwan soon, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The two jets, bearing serial numbers 6728 and 6727, will be refueled in the air and make a maintenance stop during the trans-Pacific flight to accommodate the pilots' physical needs and the aircraft's range limitations, the sources said.

Under the "Peace Phoenix Soaring" project, Taiwan's Air Force spent NT$247.2 billion between 2020 and 2026 to procure the 66 new F-16V Block 70 jets from the U.S.

The jets were originally scheduled to all be delivered to Taiwan by the end of this year, but the program was delayed by factors including the relocation and restart of the production line and supply chain disruptions. Lockheed Martin has since operated two shifts, with production running up to 20 hours a day to accelerate production.

Separately, under the "Peace Phoenix Rising" project, Lockheed Martin and Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC) upgraded all 140 of Taiwan's F-16A/B Block 20 jets to the F-16V configuration by December 2023.

When Taiwan's F-16 Block 20 jets flew from the U.S. to Taiwan in 1997, the aircraft were refueled in the air 19 times, or about once an hour on average.

The flight was divided into three legs: from Fort Worth, Texas, to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii; from Hawaii to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam; and from Guam to Chiayi Air Force Base in Taiwan.

However, the Block 70 jets are equipped with conformal fuel tanks that extend their range, and their technical specifications also differ from those of the Block 20 jets. As a result, the number of refueling operations and total flight time for the first two aircraft remain to be seen.