A second batch of American F-16 fighter jets has arrived in Taiwan

Three U.S. made F-16V fighter jets, part of an order of 66 placed by Taipei, have arrived in Taiwan, according to the news portal Focus Taiwan.

This marks the second batch of these aircraft received by Taipei, following the delivery of the first two on October 2. Consequently, the Taiwanese Air Force now possesses a total of five fighters of this model.

The aircraft arrived under their own power. They departed from the U.S. in early November and landed in Hawaii on the 4th. Subsequently, they made another stopover on the island of Guam.

 Under the Phoenix Rising program, US defense contractor Lockheed Martin and Taiwan’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. upgraded 140 F-16A/B fighters to the F-16V Block 20 configuration. The upgrades were completed in Dec. 2023.

China had reiterated its "firm" opposition to US arms sales to Taiwan after the self-ruled island received the first two of 66 F-16V Block 70 fighter jets from Washington.

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Source of information: Global News Agencies including REUTERS / TASS / AFP / ANADOLU / INT.RU / Al Jazeera / CNN