
TAIPEI -- Taiwan has upgraded nearly half of its fleet of F-16 fighter jets, the self-ruled island's air force said Thursday, bolstering its defense capability with cooperation from the U.S. despite years of objections from mainland China.
Taiwan purchased 141 F-16A/Bs from the U.S. in the 1990s. Sixty-four of them have now been retrofitted to the advanced F-16V Block 20 standard, and the remaining 77 will be upgraded by 2023.