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Air Force completes F16 upgrades

18 March, 2021

Courtesy of ICRT

Taiwan’s Air Force Chief of Staff Huang Zhi-wei says the upgrade of 42 of its 141 F-16A/B fighter jets to F-16V variants has now been completed.

Speaking during a legislative hearing, Huang said the new variant can “detect enemies earlier and has a longer strike range.”

The 42 F-16Vs will be allocated to the Fourth Tactical Fighter Wing.

According to the Air Force Chief of Staff, a formal handover ceremony will be held at the end of this month, which will be attended by President Tsai Ing-wen.

The Air Force launched the retrofit programme in 2016. The F-16V variants are equipped with more advanced avionics as well as improved flight management and electronic warfare systems.

The NT$110 billion programme is being carried out by Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation and Lockheed Martin and is scheduled to be completed by 2023.

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