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F-16 fighter jet crash brings fresh scrutiny to Taiwan’s ageing military equipment

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2026年1月11日
2 min read
ageing Ageing equipment Auto-GCAS Beijing Brings Captain Hsin Po-yi crash Cross-strait tensions Democratic Progressive Party Equipment F-16V F16 fighter fresh Hualien Base Jet Kuomintang Lockheed Martin Lu De-yun military MMC People's Liberation Army scrutiny Taiwan Taiwans Tsai Ing-wen

F-16 fighter jet crash brings fresh scrutiny to Taiwan’s ageing military equipment

Taiwan’s latest military crash involving an upgraded F-16 fighter jet has sparked fresh scrutiny of the readiness of the island’s ageing arsenal amid the sustained high-tempo demands of cross-strait tensions.

The episode on Tuesday has sharpened debate over whether upgrades and new armament purchases can realistically keep pace with increasing wear, maintenance constraints and the rapid modernisation of mainland China’s forces, according to lawmakers and analysts.

The incident involved an F-16V single-seat fighter (tail number 6700) from the Taiwanese air force’s Hualien Base in eastern Taiwan that went missing after its pilot, Captain Hsin Po-yi, apparently ejected during a routine night training flight over waters off Hualien, according to the island’s air force.

The air force said Hsin reported a malfunction of the aircraft’s modular mission computer (MMC) during the sortie, without specifying which systems were affected.

F-16 fighter jet crash brings fresh scrutiny to Taiwan’s ageing military equipment插图

02:49

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An air force logistics officer said an internal review showed the aircraft had only experienced routine faults since November, with no reports of major issues involving the MMC or the engine.

It was the second loss of an F-16V since the first squadron entered service in November 2021. A fleet-wide upgrade of 141 jets was completed in 2023.

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