Taiwan takes delivery of three more F-16 Block 70 jets from US
The planes are the second group of 66 F-16V fighters Taiwan is buying, and Beijing has objected to the sales.
Taiwan took delivery on Sunday of three more F-16 Block 70 fighter jets from the United States, Turkey's state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported.
Central News, a Taipei-based outlet, reported that the planes touched down safely at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung on Sunday morning, citing Taiwan's air force.
The jets left the Lockheed Martin plant in South Carolina last Tuesday before making the trip to Taiwan.
Taiwan received its first two F-16 Block 70 jets last month, and the latest delivery follows that arrival.
The jets are part of the Phoenix Rising program, under which Lockheed Martin and Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. upgraded 140 F-16A/B fighters to the F-16V Block 20 configuration, with the work completed in December 2023.
China restated its opposition to US arms sales to Taiwan after the first two jets arrived.
The US administration approved the sale of 66 F-16V jets and related equipment in 2019 for approximately $8 billion, a deal that Taipei sees as a major upgrade to its air defense amid persistent tensions with Beijing.
Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province, while Taipei insists on its independence.
Taiwan has been governed separately from mainland China since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, a split that remains at the center of the dispute.
