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Can Taiwan’s new F-16s level the playing field against the PLA’s J-20 stealth fighters?

Taiwan’s first two F-16 Block 70 fighter jets from the United States are expected to arrive within days, with some analysts saying the improved models…

By Samantha Johnson / August 25, 2026
Taiwan’s first two F-16 Block 70 fighter jets from the United States are expected to arrive within days, with some analysts saying the improved models could give Taipei better odds against the People’s Liberation Army’s fifth-generation J-20 fighters.
The jets will be the first deliveries under a long-delayed NT$247.3 billion (US$7.76 billion) deal for 66 aircraft.

The two fighters, numbered 6727 and 6728, left a production facility in South Carolina on August 17. They stopped in Hawaii on Friday and will later fly to Guam, their final stop before heading to Chihhang Air Base in Taiwan’s eastern county of Taitung, according to Taiwanese military sources.

The sources said the aircraft could arrive by Thursday if weather permitted, but several typhoons along the trans-Pacific route could delay their journey until after Sunday.

The fighters are being flown by US pilots and require aerial refuelling and servicing during the journey. They have been fitted with conformal fuel tanks and three external fuel tanks to extend their range.

Their arrival will mark a milestone for a procurement programme that has suffered repeated delays since Washington approved the sale in 2019.

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