Production of the 66 new Lockheed Martin F-16V Viper fighters bound for Taiwan started at the end of April. On April 28, 2020, the United States Department of Defense announced that the contract to produce new General Electric F110-GE-129 reactors destined for Taiwan had been activated. These are primarily intended to equip the F-16Vs built in Lockheed Martin's new factories in Greenville, South Carolina, although they could later integrate some of the older generation F-16A / B already converted to the F-16V standard at AIDC's Shalu complex in Taichung.
This announcement seems to mark the end of the long soap opera of modernizing the Taiwanese air force. However, at a time when relations between Beijing and Taipei are at their worst, the Taiwanese air force seems to find itself in a particularly paradoxical situation. Indeed, in the coming years, Taiwan will have the most modern air force in its history. And, at the same time, never has its strategic disadvantage been so blatant.
There are 75% of this article left to read, Subscribe to access it!
The Classic subscriptions provide access to
articles in their full version, and without advertising,
from €1,99. Subscriptions Premium also allow access to archives (articles over two years old)
