Republic of China Air Force Approved to Receive More American F-16 Parts as New Fighter Deliveries Delayed

The U.S. State Department has cleared a $330 million Foreign Military Sales package of non-standard spare parts and support services for the Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF), specifically for its F-16C/D, C-130 and Indigenous Defence Fighter fleets. The order should help the Air Force with “maintaining the operational readiness of the… fleet of F-16, C-130” and other planes, the U.S. Department of War announced. The RoCAF has operated F-16A/B fighters since the late 1990s, when an order for 140 of the aircraft was placed alongside a similar number of indigenous F-CK fighters, and 60 French Mirage 2000 fighters. The service is set to become the largest foreign operator of the F-16, as both Israel and Turkey retire the aircraft, while 66 modernised F-16C/D Block 70 aircraft are brought into service from the late 2020s.

Although U.S. arms sales to the Republic of China declined considerably from the late 1970s as Washington recognised the People’s Republic of China based on the Chinese mainland as the sole government of all China, the ongoing state of civil war between the two rival Chinese states has led Washington to continue to bolster the Taipei government with new armaments. This occurred despite the United States, United Nations, and the large majority of UN member states recognising Beijing, rather than Taipei, as the sole Chinese government, which has made sales to the Republic of China Armed Forces highly controversial. The Republic of China is the only developed economy to have purchased the F-16 over the past decade, as other economically developed clients for American fighter aircraft have consistently looked to the more modern F-35. Taipei’s international status, and concerns in Washington that prevailing pro-mainland sympathies will lead to sensitive defence technologies being leaked, have led Washington to refuse to supply more modern aircraft.

The Republic of China Ministry of National Defence has repeatedly raised concerns over the delayed delivery of 66 F-16C/D Block 70 fighter fighters, which were ordered under an $8.2 billion contract in 2019 and initially expected to complete deliveries in 2027. Only one fighter, F-16D number 6831, has been delivered so far. The F-16 is a fourth generation fighter that first entered service in 1978, with the F-16 Block 70 variant considered the United States’ cheapest and most conservative ‘4+ generation’ fighter type. The fighters are considered to be urgently needed to replace the Air Force’sFrench supplied Mirage 2000 fighters, which have suffered from extreme crash rates and obsolescence issues, with over ten percent of the aircraft having been lost in accidents. Despite the lack of other options for fighter procurements, the decision to purchase F-16s has been controversial domestically, with the aircraft having for years been considered obsolete if facing the Chinese mainland’s very high performing fifth generation fleet, and moreso as the mainland is posed to begin to operationalise sixth generation fighters in the early 2030s.