The Taiwanese Air Force is sending its fighter pilots to the United States to train on the F-16 Viper ahead of its delivery in 2026.
Taiwan is sending a total of 103 military personnel for training in the United States ahead of the delivery of new military platforms within the next two years.
Of these, the Air Force will deploy 65 personnel for a year-long advanced air combat training program on the new F-16V fighter jets. In addition, it is sending a team of 36 military personnel who will undergo a nine-month seed instructor course for MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones acquired by the island state, Taiwan’s Liberty Times reported.
Taiwan is also sending one official each to oversee the production of 66 F-16 Vipers and four Sea Guardian drones, respectively. The development is significant as it comes amid long delays in delivering the F-16 Viper jets that are meant to become the backbone of the Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF).
Taiwan initially wanted to buy the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II stealth aircraft. However, after being rebuffed by the Pentagon, it requested approval for the Block 70 (the Viper) variant of the F-16 that it was already operating.
The US authorized Taiwan to purchase 66 F-16Vs for US$8 billion in 2019. The first F-16 Vipers were initially scheduled to be delivered in 2023. However, several factors, including coronavirus-related supply chain issues and some software issues, have led to unprecedented delays. The delivery will now be made by the end of 2026, as the Taiwanese Defense Minister Wellington Koo hinted in October.
In addition to purchasing this highly upgraded aircraft, Taiwan is upgrading 139 of its F-16s to the Viper configuration under the “Peace Phoenix Rising” program. The first phase of this program was completed in February 2024.
The transition to the F-16 Viper is meant to deter an increasingly aggressive China. On its part, Beijing views Taiwan as a renegade Chinese province and has vowed to unite it with the Chinese mainland, with force if necessary.
In fact, in his 2025 New Year address, Chinese President Xi Jinping said: “We Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to the same family. No one can ever sever the bond of kinship between us, and no one can ever stop China’s reunification, a trend of the times.”
Taiwan’s Vipers To Deter The PLAAF?
Taiwan’s Deputy Defense Minister, Po Horng-huei, made a bold assertion in March 2024 that Taiwan holds “absolute air superiority” over China in its airspace. A retired pilot himself, Po added that Taiwan’s pilots are extensively trained in various tactics to effectively counter any potential Chinese invasion.
These claims were seen as an exaggeration because the PLA Air Force is technologically more advanced (on paper) and numerically larger. The Viper does not guarantee a Taiwanese victory against the PLA Air Force, which has nearly 200 fifth-generation J-20 stealth fighter jets besides other cutting-edge aircraft.
The J-20’s stealth capabilities and advanced weaponry could make it difficult for the F-16V to detect and engage, potentially giving the Chinese fighter an upper hand in aerial combat. A J-20 armed with PL-15 missiles and concealed by its stealth profile could engage F-16s before Taiwanese pilots could even detect it—thus giving China a first-strike capability.
In addition to fielding more than 200 J-20 Mighty Dragons, China has unveiled a second fifth-generation aircraft—the J-35A—further aggravating Taiwan’s woes. Furthermore, China has more than 1,500 fighters in its inventory, whereas Taiwan possesses nearly 400 aircraft, including outdated F-5 and Mirage 2000 jets, locally produced F-CK-1 aircraft, and the F-16 aircraft.
The RoCAF is clearly outnumbered.
However, as it stands, the F-16 Viper is still the most advanced combat aircraft in the Taiwanese Air Force, and the self-ruled island’s only bet against the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) in the event of a conflict.
The acquisition of Vipers and the upgrade of its existing F-16 fleet to the F-16V standard will enhance qualitative capability and reduce the capability gap between the two countries.
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Despite being a fourth-generation fighter, the enhanced F-16V presents many advanced features courtesy of its upgraded avionics suite. The aircraft features the Northrop Grumman AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) with its active electronically scanned array (AESA). The cutting-edge radar technology increases resilience to electronic countermeasures, improves target-spotting capabilities for low-signature objects like cruise missiles, and extends detection and engagement ranges.
Notably, a redesigned center pedestal display on the F-16V provides the pilot with information collected by the SABR and other sensors, improving tactical situational awareness.
The upgraded F-16V further features an array of advanced technology, including a Sniper aiming pod, Link 16, a curing system mounted on the helmet, accurate GPS navigation, increased weapon capability, an upgraded modular mission computer, an ethernet high-speed data network, and a redesigned center cockpit pedestal display.
The aircraft has also undergone numerous structural improvements to the wings, fuselage, and landing gear, which increase its capability and sustainability. It also permits a greater landing and takeoff weight than its predecessor.
The newly constructed F-16Vs will have a 12,000-hour service life, in contrast to the 8,000-hour service life of previous F-16s.
The upgraded F-16V fleet also boasts increased versatility in its armament, with provisions for heavy weapon payloads. These weapons include the AGM-84 Harpoon missile, which is well-known for its capability in anti-shipping roles, as well as more advanced weapons like the AGM-154 Joint Stand-Off Weapon (JSOW) for precision strikes and the AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation (HARM) missile for defense suppression.
Taiwan is also reportedly buying the JASSM for its F-16V. The JASSM has several cutting-edge characteristics, such as passive infrared target-matching/homing and very low observability (stealth). The missile has a high degree of precision and durability and is more resistant to electronic warfare, including GPS jamming.
In addition, the US approved the sale of infrared search and tracking systems (IRSTs) to Taiwan in August 2023 to bolster Taiwan’s capability to detect stealthy threats like the J-20s.
IRST uses heat signals that radiate from its target to detect it, as opposed to radar, which uses radio wave reflection to detect targets. Although stealth aircraft have low radar observability, the infrared radiation of stealth aircraft can only be decreased, not completely removed.
The Taiwanese F-16 Viper will also have better survivability. Media reports in September 2024 indicated that the country had set aside US$1.33 billion to acquire an advanced electronic warfare (EW) system known as the Viper Shield for the F-16V fighter jets.
The report noted that Taiwan seeks to acquire the AN/ALQ-254 series EW system from US defense manufacturer L3 Harris. The AN/ALQ-254(V)1 variant, in particular, is renowned for its sophisticated knacks to identify and neutralize electronic threats.
When it secures the delivery of 66 Vipers from the US, Taiwan will have more than 200 of these fighters in its inventory, making it the largest Viper operator of the F-16 in Asia. It is also noteworthy that while several countries have opted to upgrade their F-16s to Viper standards, Taiwan is the first country to field a combat-capable F-16 Viper.
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