- Taiwan’s defense ministry warned it may withhold funds and seek repayment over delayed delivery of 66 F-16V Block 70 jets.
- Deputy Minister Chung Shu-ming said the issue was raised with U.S. officials and could involve recovering improper gains from the delay.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense has raised concerns over the delayed delivery of 66 F-16V Block 70 fighter jets purchased from the United States, saying it may retain part of the project budget and demand compensation for what it calls “improper gains” resulting from the delay.
At a Legislative Yuan session on October 28, Deputy Minister of Armaments Lt. Gen. Chung Shu-ming said that if the program cannot be completed on schedule, the government will “reserve the remaining budget” and seek to recover profits from the manufacturer accumulated during the period of delay. “This issue has been raised during my visit to the United States and discussed in a Taiwan-U.S. program management meeting,” Chung told lawmakers.
The remarks came after Kuomintang lawmaker Hsu Chiao-hsin questioned the Air Force’s lack of progress in the $8 billion F-16V procurement program, which was approved in 2019. According to the initial plan, Taiwan was supposed to begin receiving the aircraft in 2023, with four to five jets delivered every few months until all 66 were completed by 2026.
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However, only one two-seat F-16V, numbered 6831, was handed over in the United States in March this year. The Air Force had earlier estimated that ten jets would be delivered in 2025, but six months later, officials admitted that completing all deliveries by the end of next year would be “a high-risk target.”
Air Force Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Lee Ching-yen told the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee that the delivery timeline is now uncertain due to “supply chain disruptions, workforce shortages at Lockheed Martin, and hardware-software integration testing.” He said the ministry was reassessing the overall schedule and adjusting payment milestones to ensure Taiwan does not make early payments for undelivered equipment.
Premier Cho Jung-tai said the government does not rule out “taking legal action against the manufacturer” if the delays continue. Chung added that the F-16V deal was executed through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) process, which does not provide for direct compensation claims. “Only under Direct Commercial Sales could we pursue such claims,” he explained, but stressed that Taipei intends to formally request repayment for the delayed delivery period.
The Ministry of National Defense later issued a statement confirming that most of Taiwan’s defense procurement programs remain on or ahead of schedule despite pandemic-related setbacks, but that the F-16V Block 70 program, along with two others, has been delayed. The ministry said it continues to monitor all U.S. arms sales through regular bilateral meetings and on-site inspections.
The ministry also said it is reviewing payment procedures to prevent premature disbursements before equipment is delivered, while accelerating training programs to ensure operational readiness once the jets arrive.
Taiwan ordered the 66 F-16V Block 70 fighters—an upgraded variant equipped with advanced avionics, radar, and mission systems—in 2019 to modernize its air defense fleet and replace aging aircraft. The jets are being produced by Lockheed Martin in Greenville, South Carolina.