First new F-16V fighter jets to arrive in Taiwan to bolster defences

The first two of a batch of 66 new F-16V fighter jets ordered in 2019 will arrive in Taiwan on Friday after months of delays, helping to strengthen an air force that has to scramble almost daily to shadow China's military.



Taiwan faces a rising military threat from Beijing, which claims the democratically governed island as its own territory.



Taipei has complained of repeated delays to weapons ordered from the United States, its most important international backer and arms supplier.



The delivery, to the Taitung air base on the island's mountainous east coast, comes amid growing concern in Taiwan about the Trump administration's commitment to arming Taipei, despite Washington saying there has been no change in policy.



Speaking to reporters at parliament in Taipei, Defence Minister Wellington Koo said there would be other new F-16Vs arriving soon, though he did not give details.



The United States in 2019 approved an $8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16V fighter jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the island's F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets. But delivery of the planes has been hit by issues including software problems.