Two of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered in 2019 touched down on Friday, marking the first deliveries from a purchase that had faced repeated postponements, adding to an air force that conducts near-daily intercept missions in response to Chinese military activity.

Beijing regards Taiwan as part of its territory, a position that has contributed to sustained military pressure on the self-governing island. Weapons deliveries that Taipei ordered from the United States — its primary source of arms and the country's foremost external supporter — have faced a pattern of postponements, according to officials there.

The shipment reached Chihhang Air Base in Taitung, on Taiwan's mountainous eastern coastline, at a time when questions have been raised on the island over whether the Trump administration will follow through on arms supply commitments, even as Washington maintains that its position on the matter has not shifted.

Routing via Hawaii and Guam, the aircraft landed at noon local time (0400 GMT). In a Facebook post, President Lai Ching-te described the delivery as an advance for the island's air defence and extended thanks to Washington for its backing.

At a parliamentary media briefing in Taipei, Defence Minister Wellington Koo indicated that additional F-16V aircraft were expected to arrive in the near term, while stopping short of providing a specific timeline or further details.

A deal cleared by Washington in 2019 authorised Lockheed Martin to deliver F-16V fighters to Taiwan at a contract value of $8 billion, a transaction that would push the island's total F-16 inventory past the 200-aircraft threshold. Among the factors that pushed back aircraft delivery were faults found in the onboard software.

The pair of planes made their landings a week after Trump and Xi Jinping concluded their Washington discussions. Following a meeting with Xi in Beijing during May, the president indicated he was holding back a proposed $14 billion arms package for Taiwan, even as a separate $11 billion package received his authorisation in December 2025.

Those with knowledge of the matter have told broadcasters that an armed move against Taiwan by China before 2028 is now viewed by officials as a diminishing prospect. The island's next presidential vote is scheduled for early 2028, and Koo maintained that plans to bring Taiwan under mainland control through military means have remained constant.

Equipped with upgraded avionics, weapons packages, and radar arrays, the F-16V variants are intended to address aerial threats from the Chinese air force — among them the stealth-capable J-20 — though the transfer of top-tier platforms such as the F-22 or F-35 has not been authorised for Taiwan.

Legislation binding Washington to arm Taiwan for its own protection coexists with the absence of any official diplomatic ties between the two. On multiple occasions, Chinese officials have conveyed to their American counterparts that weapons transfers to Taiwan should cease.

Beijing's foreign ministry offered no reply when approached for a response to the F-16 deliveries, while a State Department spokesperson, addressing questions about the aircraft, conveyed that the United States remains committed to standing alongside partners throughout the Indo-Pacific region — Taiwan among them — in pursuit of shared goals around prosperity, security, and common values.