The country’s defense minister told parliament that the $4.5 billion upgrade program for 142 F-16 fighter jets is on schedule.
The Diplomat
Date: October 17, 2019
By: Franz-Stefan Gady
Taiwan’s Minister of Defense, Yen Teh-fa, assured parliament on Wednesday that an estimated $4.5
Credit: Lockheed Martin
The defense minister told lawmakers that all problems with the Ministry of National Defense’s Phoenix Rising Project, which was launched in 2016 and aims to upgrade 142 ROCAF A/B Fighting Falcon combat aircraft to the F-16V configuration by 2023, have been resolved, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on October 16.
Parliamentarians had raised their concerns earlier following the revelation that Taiwan’s state-owned Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) failed to deliver six refitted jets in the first quarter of 2019.
“AIDC was to complete upgrades of four F-16s in 2018, followed by 24, 27, 34, 36, and 15 in the years after,” the SCMP reports. “But, after meeting last year’s target, AIDC has only managed to complete work on a further six jets so far this year, instead of six in each quarter of 2019.”
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