Taiwan commissions first combat wing of upgraded F-16 fighters

This article is more than 12 months old

Nov 19, 2021 06:00 am

CHIAYI, TAIWAN : President Tsai Ing-wen lauded Taiwan's military cooperation with Washington yesterday as she commissioned the first combat wing of F-16 fighters upgraded with US help to bolster the island's defences amid rising tensions between Taipei and Beijing.

Frequent Chinese and US military exercises in the region have raised fears of conflict touched off by a crisis over democratically-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory.

Ms Tsai told a ceremony at an air base in the southern Taiwanese city of Chiayi, to unveil the first squadron of its most advanced F-16s, the F-16V, that the project showed the firm commitment of the Taiwan-US partnership.

"I believe that as long as we adhere to the values of democracy and freedom, there will be more like-minded countries standing on the same front with us," she said, speaking on the same stage as the top US diplomat in Taiwan, Ms Sandra Oudkirk.

The NT$110 billion (S$5.4 billion) F-16 upgrade is led by manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp and Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corp, and is the latest example of military cooperation between Washington and Taipei.

Taiwan has been converting 141 F-16A/B jets into the F-16V type, 64 of which have already been upgraded, and has additionally ordered 66 new F-16Vs, which have new avionics, weapons and radar systems to better face down the Chinese air force, including its J-20 stealth fighter.- REUTERS