According to Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA), the last retrofitted F-16V aircraft has already passed flight tests, while Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) and US arms giant Lockheed Martin proceed with modifications.
"All modifications are expected to be completed by the end of this month," the source said.
The project of modernizing 140 US-made F-16A and F-16B warplanes to F-16 Block 20 for the Taiwanese air force is estimated to be worth 140 billion Taiwan dollars ($4.45 billion) and is financed by AIDC and Lockheed Martin. In addition, Taiwan has acquired 66 new F-16V Block 70 jets from the United States.
In late November, a Bloomberg reported cited a group of US Republican lawmakers, saying that two F-16 fighter jet programs for Taiwan were at considerable risk of falling behind. The matter has gotten worse due to rising questions as to whether the US could be overextending its capacity to provide aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan all at once.
Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing regards the island as its province, while Taiwan maintains that it is an autonomous entity but stops short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any official foreign contacts with Taipei and regards Chinese sovereignty over the island as indisputable.
The latest escalation around Taiwan took place in April after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with the then-US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the United States. Beijing responded by launching massive three-day military drills near the island in what it called a warning to Taiwanese separatists and foreign powers.
In August and September, the Taiwanese armed forces reported multiple sightings of Chinese naval and air patrols in the island's vicinity. On September 18, the ministry reported a record high of 103 Chinese aircraft seen near the island in one day.