Taiwan's F-16 upgrade programme completed

On 10 November 2023, Scramble Magazine first reported on the last single-seat F-16 which completed the upgrade from F-16A to F-16V. At that time, there were only two dual-seat F-16s left in the upgrade programme, 6807 and 6805.

On 3 December 2023, the latter was the final F-16 B Block 72 V to complete the final testflight of the programme at the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) Shalu plant at Taichung/Cingcyuangang airport.

The F-16V upgrade programme for the Chung-Hua Min Guo Kong Jun (RoCAF, Republic of China Air Force) ran for six years, during which all 141 remaining F-16s were upgraded from F-16A/B to F-16A/B Block 72 V. Unfortunately, one F-16V, 6650, was already written off after a crash on 11 January 2021.

Next to the (remaining) 140 F-16Vs, the RoCAF will receive 66 new-build F-16C/D Block 72 Vs. The deal to procure the fighters was announced in 2019. Deliveries were planned to start in the fourth quarter of this year and to be completed in 2026. However, the first delivery has been delayed to somewhere in 2024 due to supply chain issues. Despite this, it is still the aim to have all aircraft delivered buy the end of 2026.

Credit photo: Tsungfang Tsai