Chinese media on October 20 reported that Taiwan begun receiving the first of its upgraded Lockheed Martin F-16V Fighting Falcon combat aircraft.
According the report, the first of 142 F-16A/B aircraft are to be retrofitted or upgraded to the level of the latest F-16V Block 70 standard and delivered back to the Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF) by Lockheed Martin’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC).
News of the first deliveries back to the RoCAF comes about 22 months after the first four aircraft were inaugurated into the upgrade programme at AIDC’s Taichung facility in the northwest of Taiwan in January 2017.
Report indicate that 24 aircraft per year will go through the upgrade process, which is scheduled to run through to the end of May 2022.
A Look at the Falcon Combat Fighter
- Capability of air-to-ground and air-to-air combat.
- Equipped with an upgraded programmable displays generator.
- The jet is also fitted with precision GPS navigation and automated ground collision avoidance system (AGCAS).
- Can be armed with a range of air-to-air missiles (AAMs), including AIM-9 Sidewinder, Magic II and ASRAAM short-range AAMs, as well as AIM-7, Sky Flash and AIM-120 medium-range AAMs.
- also supports the integration of AGM-119/AGM-84/AGM-65G anti-ship missiles, and AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground tactical missile.
- The fighter is equipped with upgraded electronic warfare equipment and modern threat warning systems, including jammers, threat warning receivers, electronic countermeasures equipment pods, as well as chaff and infrared flare dispensers to defend the most dangerous threats in complex battlefield scenarios
