TAITUNG, Taiwan — Three newly manufactured F-16V Block 70 fighter jets landed safely at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung County, in southeastern Taiwan, at about 11 a.m. local time on Sunday, November 8, according to Taiwan's Air Force Command, as reported by the state-run Central News Agency (CNA). The single-seat jets carry the tail numbers 6729, 6731 and 6732.

Source: Central News Agency (CNA), via EuropeSays, Nov 8 2026 — Taiwan receives three more US F-16V fighters

The three aircraft departed Lockheed Martin's manufacturing facility in South Carolina earlier this month and reached Taiwan after a stop in Hawaii on November 4, according to local media reports carried by CNA. Tasnim News Agency, reporting the same arrival on Sunday, said Taiwan received the second batch of three F-16 Block 70 jets from the United States amid heightened tensions with China, citing local media. Local television footage from Taitung showed the jets arriving from the direction of Guam on Sunday morning. Reports in local media about which individual pilots flew the delivery flight have not been confirmed by the Air Force, and Awaaz Punjab does not name them.

Source: Tasnim News Agency, Nov 8 2026 — Taiwan receives 2nd batch of F-16 Block 70 fighter jets from US

This arrival is the follow-up to the delivery Defence Minister Wellington Koo flagged in October, when the second batch was still on its way. Read the earlier report: Taiwan's second batch of three US F-16V jets to arrive soon

Five of 66 — a programme years behind its first schedule

The five jets delivered so far are part of a US-approved procurement of 66 new F-16 Block 70 aircraft, in a sale Washington approved in 2019 at about $8 billion — yaani about 800 crore dollars. Deliveries were originally expected to begin in 2023 and to be completed by 2026, but technical problems and other delays pushed the schedule back; the first two jets arrived only on October 2 this year. No revised date for completing all 66 deliveries was announced with Sunday's arrival. Taiwan's Air Force said it would continue preparations and training for inducting the new aircraft into service, gradually building their initial operational capability.

Source: CNA via EuropeSays, Nov 8 2026 — delivery history and Air Force Command statement

The new jets are designated F-16C/D Block 70 and are commonly called F-16V, with the V standing for Viper. They are a newer and more capable configuration than the roughly 140 older F-16A/B jets Taiwan upgraded to the F-16V Block 20 standard under the Phoenix Rising programme, which was completed in December 2023. Chihhang, on Taiwan's east coast facing the Philippine Sea, is home to the Air Force's 7th Tactical Fighter Wing.

Source: The Asia Live, Nov 8 2026 — Taiwan adds three advanced F-16V Block 70 fighters

The same morning, Chinese aircraft and ships around the island

The delivery landed on a routine-pressure day in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence said it detected four sorties by People's Liberation Army aircraft, six PLA Navy vessels and two official ships operating around Taiwan in the 24 hours up to 6 a.m. on Sunday, and that two of the four aircraft sorties crossed the strait's median line and entered the southwestern part of Taiwan's air defence identification zone. Taiwan's armed forces monitored the activity and responded, the ministry said, in an update reported by the ANI news agency. China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has repeatedly opposed US arms sales to the island, demanding that Washington halt military cooperation with Taipei; Taiwan's democratically elected government maintains that the island's future must be decided by its people.

Source: ANI, Nov 8 2026 — Taiwan detects 4 PLA aircraft, 6 PLAN vessels operating near territory

What is solid

  • Three F-16V Block 70 jets, tail numbers 6729, 6731 and 6732, landed at Chihhang Air Base at about 11 a.m. on Sunday, November 8 — reported by CNA citing Taiwan's Air Force Command and carried independently by other outlets the same day.
  • This is the second batch: the first two jets arrived on October 2, so five of the 66 ordered jets have now been delivered.
  • The 66-jet sale was approved by the United States in 2019 at about $8 billion, and deliveries have run years behind the original schedule, which envisaged completion by 2026.

What is only claimed

  • Local-media reports identifying individual pilots of the delivery flight — the details differ between outlets and the Air Force has not confirmed them, so they are not reported here as fact.
  • Any claim that Sunday's routine PLA activity — four aircraft sorties and eight vessels/ships detected by Taipei — was a response to the delivery: no source checked links the two, and the daily tally is within the pattern Taiwan reports most days.

What happens next: the Air Force's work now is acceptance checks and conversion training at Chihhang so the new fleet can reach initial operational capability, while the remaining 61 jets are still to be delivered from the United States. Each further batch will be watched in Taipei as a measure of whether the long-delayed programme is finally moving at pace — and in Beijing, which opposes every US arms delivery to the island. Awaaz Punjab will report the next batch's arrival as its own story when it is confirmed.