Section

Air Force

Fighters, air defence, missiles and the battle for the skies.

A grey Japanese E-767 airborne warning aircraft with a large rotating radar dome above its fuselage, seen from below against a blue sky

Japan's E-767 radar planes to get new Link 16 terminals under a US contract

A $14.9 million US Air Force award covers datalink terminals for Japan's airborne warning fleet, though the quantity and installation schedule were not disclosed.

TaiwanDefence · 1d ago · 3 min read

A grey-blue KJ-500 radar plane with a rotodome flies ahead of four dark J-20 stealth fighters against a pale sky

Air Force

Satellite images point to China's biggest Red Sword air force exercise in years

Close to 300 PLA aircraft, including J-20 stealth fighters, H-6 bombers and KJ-500 radar planes, have massed at 11 western airbases, a US institute says.

TaiwanDefence · 1d ago · 3 min read

A blue, white and red T-5 Brave Eagle jet trainer with two crew in the cockpit rolls along a runway beside a grass field

Air Force

Taiwan grounds all 65 Brave Eagle trainers after air force confirms brake failure

The air force told lawmakers a mechanical fault caused the Gangshan runway excursion, the worst of nine brake-related incidents on the jet in three years.

TaiwanDefence · 3d ago · 2 min read

A white, blue and red twin-engine jet trainer with a tall tail fin parked on an apron under a blue sky with white clouds

Air Force

Taiwan Brave Eagle jet trainer runs off Gangshan runway after brake failure

A T-5 trainer burst a tyre and damaged its landing gear on landing at the air force academy base, the second trainer mishap there in under a week.

TaiwanDefence · 4d ago · 2 min read

Air Force

Air Force locks 8 November Chihhang window for second F-16 Block 70 batch

Air Force media notice on 7 November 2026 set an 8 November Chihhang landing window for three Block 70 jets, serials 6729, 6731 and 6732, after Koos soon remark.

TaiwanDefence · 8 Nov 2026 · 3 min read

Taiwanese Tien Kung III surface-to-air missile launcher trailer with box launchers raised on a parade ground

Air Force

Taiwan's air defence missile chief Liu Hsiao-tang to retire as succession race opens

The lieutenant general who runs Taiwan's Patriot, Tien Kung and Hsiung Sheng missile force leaves at the end of November, and the defence ministry has yet to name a successor.

TaiwanDefence · 7 Nov 2026 · 3 min read

Air Force

Taiwan's air force reports a trainer hard landing and an F-16 stuck on a runway on the same day

A student's T-34 trainer was damaged landing at Gangshan and a hydraulic fault left an F-16 stranded at Ching Chuan Kang; no one was hurt.

TaiwanDefence · 5 Nov 2026 · 3 min read

Air Force

US Air Force hires CAE to keep Taiwan's F-16 training simulators running until 2032

A $14.8m US contract will sustain the F-16 Block 20V and Block 70 mission training centres at Chiayi, Hualien and Taitung as new jets arrive.

TaiwanDefence · 5 Nov 2026 · 3 min read

A grey F-16 Block 70 fighter jet with its landing gear down touching down on a desert runway

Air Force

Taiwan's second batch of new F-16 Block 70 fighters heads for Hawaii on the way home

Three F-16C Block 70 jets left Fort Worth for Hawaii on the delivery flight to Taiwan, and the defence minister says he hopes they arrive as planned.

TaiwanDefence · 4 Nov 2026 · 3 min read

Air Force

Ten C-130Js would retire Taiwan's oldest Hercules as the US starts work on the request

Military sources say Washington has begun processing Taiwan's request for 10 new transports, with the case due by next May and funding from 2028.

TaiwanDefence · 29 Oct 2026 · 3 min read

Air Force

Taiwan has two of its six MS-110 spy pods for F-16s, with the rest due by December

The air force says the remaining four US-made reconnaissance pods will arrive by year-end, giving its F-16s all-weather imagery that can be sent to the ground in real time.

TaiwanDefence · 27 Oct 2026 · 3 min read

Helmeted reservists in camouflage kneel with rifles behind barbed wire on grass while officials and officers watch from under a tent

Air Force

Taiwan air force keeps a reservist call-up on election day, telling 311 to vote before reporting

A venue clash left an Air Force guard battalion's reserve training starting on 28 November, Taiwan's local election day, so reservists may report until 8 pm.

TaiwanDefence · 17 Oct 2026 · 2 min read

View of Taipei Songshan Airport runway and terminal area from an observation deck

Air Force

Cabinet warns Songshan airport move would leave a critical gap in capital defence

After Taipei's mayor pitched relocating Songshan airport at the Cabinet meeting on 15 October 2026, the Executive Yuan said the dual-use base is the only alternate for large jets and a pillar of capital defence.

TaiwanDefence · 16 Oct 2026 · 2 min read

A blue, white and red Brave Eagle jet trainer parked on an air base apron with red engine intake covers fitted

Air Force

Taiwan's Brave Eagle trainers logged 212 engine blade repairs, mostly blamed on runway dust

A military probe found 201 of the cases were minor nicks polished out on the flight line, traced to dust from base runway works that watering has since curbed.

TaiwanDefence · 15 Oct 2026 · 2 min read

Air Force

Taiwan's air force delays radar guard platoons to 2029 as China-free vehicle bid stalls

Taiwan's air force will form 14 conscript guard platoons for its radar stations in phases through 2029, and a patrol vehicle tender drew no bidders.

TaiwanDefence · 15 Oct 2026 · 3 min read

A missile climbs on a bright flame trail from a box launcher on a rocky coastal heath under a grey sky

Air Force

Taiwan's military seeks 462 AMRAAM-ER surface-to-air missiles for NASAMS against China

Taiwan wants 462 AMRAAM-ER missiles for 12 NASAMS sets to face Chinese air threats; 123 come first and the rest still await a US announcement.

TaiwanDefence · 15 Oct 2026 · 3 min read

Airliner on the runway of Taipei Songshan Airport with dense city buildings and hills behind

Air Force

Taiwan's defence ministry tells lawmakers military needs come first in any Songshan or Taichung airport change

A 14 October written report says six civil-military airports form a dispersed, mutually supporting air defence network that any relocation must not break.

TaiwanDefence · 14 Oct 2026 · 3 min read

Air Force

Taiwan's defence minister says any move of Taipei's Songshan airport must not weaken the military

Wellington Koo would not say if he backs the Taipei mayor's plan to turn the civil-military airport into an AI park, but said defences must not suffer.

TaiwanDefence · 12 Oct 2026 · 2 min read

Air Force

Taiwan says jamming pod software for its new F-16 Block 70 fighters is still in development

Part of the Viper Shield pod hardware is fitted on the first two jets, the air force told lawmakers, as Koo said more Block 70s could arrive this month.

TaiwanDefence · 12 Oct 2026 · 3 min read

Air Force

Taiwan plans to let 72 senior air force pilots fly until 58 to stem departures to airlines

Taiwan's defence ministry wants veteran lieutenant colonels and colonels to stay in uniform until 58 as airline hiring drains its cockpits.

TaiwanDefence · 12 Oct 2026 · 3 min read

A large grey Teng Yun military drone with a long straight wing parked on an air base apron.

Air Force

Taiwan's Teng Yun military drone appears to draw a Double Ten over the mountains on National Day

Flight-tracking data show the NCSIST long-endurance drone making sharp turns over the Central Mountain Range on 10 October, though its mission is unconfirmed.

TaiwanDefence · 11 Oct 2026 · 2 min read

A dark twin-rotor Chinook helicopter flies against a blue sky with white clouds, a large red, blue and white Republic of China flag hanging beneath it on a long cable

Air Force

Taiwan's National Day air parade sends 15 fighters and 12 helicopters over the Presidential Office

Mirage 2000, IDF and F-16V jets crossed Taipei in goose formations, and Thunder Tiger trainers closed the military display trailing national-flag smoke.

TaiwanDefence · 10 Oct 2026 · 3 min read

F-16V Block 70 fighter jet landing at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung

Air Force

Koo says more F-16Vs due this year, denies EW ballast-weight claim

At the Legislative Yuan, Defence Minister Wellington Koo said more than two Block 70 jets will arrive in 2026 and that electronic-warfare suites are in active software-hardware integration, not replaced by ballast.

TaiwanDefence · 3 Oct 2026 · 2 min read

Brave Eagle jets trailing smoke over Taipei Presidential Office Oct 2 2026

Air Force

National Day full-force air ladder rehearsed over Presidential Office

On Oct. 2 Taiwan ran its second Double Ten National Day air drill over Taipei, closing with Thunder Tiger trainers trailing red-blue-white smoke over the Presidential Office.

TaiwanDefence · 2 Oct 2026 · 2 min read

Air Force

First F-16V Block 70 jets ferry toward Taiwan after Hawaii stop

Taiwan's Air Force confirmed the first two new F-16V Block 70 fighters are due at Chihhang Air Base on 2 October after leaving Hawaii on a delayed Pacific ferry.

TaiwanDefence · 1 Oct 2026 · 2 min read

A Taiwan AIDC T-5 Brave Eagle advanced jet trainer during a 2020 flight demonstration.

Air Force

Taiwan completes 66-aircraft Brave Eagle trainer production run

AIDC delivered the final two advanced jet trainers to the Air Force Academy on Sept. 24, completing a production program launched in 2017.

TaiwanDefence · 1 Oct 2026 · 1 min read