Taiwan receives first F-16V jets as it strengthens defence against China

Taiwan received on Friday its first F16V fighter jets made by the United States as the island democracy upgrades its military capabilities to deter a potential Chinese attackThe warplanes are part of an 8 billion deal for 66 F16Vs approved during US President Donald Trumps first term and scheduled for delivery this yearThe arrival of the aircraft comes as Taiwan awaits Washingtons approval of a separate 14 billion arms package that Trump paused after Chinese objectionsChina claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize itThe two F16Vs made by US defence contractor Lockheed Martin touched down under a clear sky at Taiwans air force base in Taitung on the islands southeast coastThe jets had been expected in early September after making refuelling stops in Hawaii and GuamLocal media reported that the planes had turned back to Hawaii shortly after taking off for Guam No official explanation was givenDozens of locals some equipped with binoculars and longlensed cameras gathered near the air bases perimeter fence to watch the highly anticipated arrival of the jetsKimi Chi a salesman from the central city of Taichung had travelled through the night to be able to photograph the aircraft landing in TaitungHe was philosophical about the delays saying good things take timeIn terms of hardware capabilities there will definitely be an improvement the 37yearold told AFPBut what we are actually lacking the most right now is pilots Of course I hope the government can provide better additional allowances for these military pilotsFormer Air Force serviceman Eric Chan 57 marvelled at the improvements made to the F16 over the past 30 years and said the fighter jets based in Taitung will play a very important defensive role against ChinaThe threat from the CCP has always been there so we definitely need to strengthen our defence capabilities Chan told AFP referring to the Chinese Communist PartyThe F16V is a fourthgeneration multirole fighter and a significantly upgraded version of Taiwans ageing F16 AB jetsEquipped with more advanced combat detection and engine capabilities the F16V will be a valuable addition to Taiwans air force in countering Chinas military threat said Su Tzuyun a military expert at the Taipeibased Institute for National Defense and Security Research Delivery delays The United States is Taiwans most important security backer and biggest arms supplier But bottlenecks have slowed delivery of critical weaponsTaiwans Defence Minister Wellington Koo said previously it would be challenging for all the F16Vs to be delivered this year despite Lockheed Martin ramping up productionOn Friday Koo said more F16Vs would be delivered to Taiwan before the end of the year but did not say how manyAt present I think aircraft are gradually moving through the production line and there are also aircraft that have passed the tests Koo saidAs for when they will fly back we will coordinate further with the US sideTrump has stalled signing off on the record 14 billion weapons purchase by Taipei calling it in May a very good negotiating chip in dealings with China which raised fears that Taiwans security could be traded awayExperts believe approval for the package is unlikely before the G20 summit in the United States in December where Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Trump are expected to meet for the fourth time this yearA US official said recently it was increasingly likely the 14 billion worth of arms which include the Patriot air defence system would be broken up into smaller amounts to temper Chinas responseThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever