U.S. Further Delays Urgent F-16 Deliveries to the Republic of China Air Force

The United States has further delayed deliveries of F-16 Block 70/72 fighter aircraft to the Republic of China Air Force, which ordered 66 of the fighters in August 2019 under an $8.1 billion contract. A number of Taipei-based media sources have reported that it remains uncertain to what extent there will be further delays throughout the remainder of the year, with the Republic of China Air Force having confirmed that system integration issues in the United States have slowed the pace of production and delivery. The service was <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/republic-china-air-force-receives-first-f16-block70" >reported</a> on March 28 to have received its first F-16 Block 70 fighter, although no new deliveries having been made since then. Despite a statement by the Republic of China Ministry of National Defence that 66 F-16s are expected to be delivered by the end of 2026, which was a specific requirement since orders were first placed, this goal appears increasingly unlikely to be met. The F-16s are considered to be urgently needed to replace the service’s troubled French supplied Mirage 2000 fighters which have suffered from<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/french-mirage2000s-crash-prone-loss" >&nbsp;extreme crash rates&nbsp;</a>and obsolescence issues, with over ten percent of the aircraft having been lost in accidents.&nbsp;<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/07/article_684396ea53afd1_52045592.png" title="F-16D Block 70 in the Slovak Air Force ">On May 4, 2023, Republic of China Minister of Defence Chiu Kuo-cheng announced that the F-16s would be delivered a year late, with deliveries to beginning in the second half of 2024. The minister elaborated that Taipei had requested the U.S. work to “make up the deficiency,” and was “minimising the damage.” Under the terms of the contract, however, the United States has not been forced to pay any penalties for these and subsequent delays. Further delays meant that deliveries in the first half of 2025 will likely be limited to just a single fighter, raising the possibility that the order may only be completed in 2028. These delays have occurred despite repeated indications from Washington that efforts would be made to <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/us-may-accelerate-f16-taiwan">expedite deliveries </a>to bolster Taipei’s position in its ongoing standoff with Beijing. The Republic of China Air Force has been by far the largest client for the F-16 Block 70/72, with its order having been vital to allowing the production line in Greenville, South Carolina, to operate. The <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/latest-f16-pentagon-no-want" target="_blank">new F-16 variant </a>integrates an enhanced variant of the F110 engine, the F110-GE-129, as well as a high composite airframe that reduces maintenance needs, and an AN/APG-83 AESA radar. Although its sensors are sophisticated, the very small size of the primary radar the F-16 can carry significantly limits its situational awareness, particularly when compared to medium weight fighters such as the F-18E/F and F-35, or heavyweights such as the F-15 and J-20.<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/07/article_6843976b028bb2_10262218.webp" title="Flight Prototypes Developed For Two Separate Mainland Chinese Sixth Generation Fighter Programs">The decision to procure the F-16 was already highly controversial domestically, due to the age of the fighter design, which has served since 1978, and their cost of over $120 million each. The cost of the F-16s by many estimates far exceeds the costs of the rival Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s much larger and more capable <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/china-j20-fifth-generation-began-serial-production-10yrs" target="_blank">J-20 fifth generation fighters</a>, reflecting the fact that the Republic of China Air Force is importing its aircraft and their much smaller and less efficient scale of production among other factors. The Republic of China is the only technologically advanced economy which has purchased the F-16 Block 70/72, which has primarily been marketed to less developed clients such as Morocco, Bahrain, Slovakia, Bulgaria and the Philippines. With the J-20 <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/how-many-j20-stealth-fighter-will-china-build-top-expert-predicts-over-1000" target="_blank">having emerged</a> as one of the world’s premier fighters, rivalled only by the F-35, the new F-16s were considered close to obsolete for air defence duties even before they entered service. With the Chinese mainland currently positioned to begin fielding the&nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/china-sixth-generation-heavyweight-fighter-fourth-flight">world’s first sixth generation fighters</a>&nbsp;in the early 2030s, after having unveiled two separate designs both under flight testing in December 2024, the gap between the two Chinese air forces is expected to be further significantly widened in favour of the mainland, leaving the Republic of China Air Force’s top fighter units two generations behind.<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/06/07/article_684397c6116928_73353098.jpg" title="Republic of China Air Force F-16A">The Republic of China Air Force has struggled to procure new fighters since the 1990s, and after ordering 150 F-16A/B fighters in 1992, repeated attempts to procure the F-16 Block 50/52 or the F-35 were meet with rejection. U.S. arms sales to the Republic of China declined considerably from the late 1970s as Washington recognised the People’s Republic of China based in Beijing as the sole government of all China, including outlying islands such as Taiwan where the RoC was based. Sales of F-16A/B Block 20 variants, which were much less capable than the latest F-16C/D variants available in the 1990s, were one consequence of this. Arms sales to the Republic of China government have been controversial, as while Taipei has continued to claim to be the sole government of the entire Chinese nation, as well as the legitimate government of Mongolia, it has no recognition at the United Nations and is not recognised by the overwhelming majority of UN member states including the United States. Arms sales to the RoC have thus been widely equated with sales to a non state actor.&nbsp;Escalating tensions between the United States and the Chinese mainland under the first Trump administration, however, resulted in the decision to supply F-16s, although still rejecting efforts by Taipei to procure the F-35.