F-16C/D Block 70 jets remain relevant in modern warfare even as drones are playing an increasingly prominent role, an expert said, citing their ability to conduct combat air patrols (CAPs) and threaten conventional surface warships, including Chinese aircraft carriers deployed in waters off Taiwan’s east coast, an expert said. Taiwan yesterday received two of the 66 F-16C/D Block 70 (or F-16V Block 70) jets it ordered from the US in 2019. The full order was due to be delivered by the end of the year, but supply chain disruptions and other issues have pushed back the schedule. During wartime, Chinese forces would try to damage airbases’ runways to prevent fighter jets from taking off, Institute for National Defense and Security Research associate research fellow Shu Hsiao-huang (舒孝煌) said.
A Lockheed Martin F-16V jet lands at the Chihhang Air Base in Taitung County yesterday.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
While airbases in eastern Taiwan would less likely be targeted by Chinese ballistic missiles or long-range rockets, they would still be vulnerable to ship-to-surface and air-to-surface weapons, Shu said. China could also deploy its aircraft carriers and other large surface vessels far away from Taiwan’s east coast to evade coastal missiles, and threaten shipping routes used to transport weapons, gas and fuel, Shu said.
Those threats are why drones cannot replace fighter jets, he said. Drones cannot be deployed as effectively against large surface vessels, such as aircraft carriers, due to their limited payload capacity, Shu said, adding that the ability of drones to detect and track airborne targets is not as extensive as those of fighter jets, which provide more effective deterrence against airborne threats.“The ability of fighter jets to conduct CAPs, generally speaking, cannot yet be replaced,” he said. Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology policy analyst Cathy Fang (方怡然) said drones are meant to complement conventional fighter jets, not replace them.“The value [of drones] is not that they replace conventional systems. It is that they add larger numbers of dispersed, lower-cost, and more replaceable sensors and shooters, increasing the density and resilience of Taiwan’s existing defense architecture,” he said. Despite the F-16V Block 70’s larger fuel capacity, which allows the jets to remain airborne for longer periods, and their ability to carry more missiles, they would be at a disadvantage against China’s fifth-generation stealth fighter jets, such as the J-20, Shu said.“They are not easily spotted, but they can see us,” Shu added. The threat becomes more serious if enemy stealth fighters are equipped with beyond-visual-range missiles such as the PL-15 or PL-17, he said. One system that could help overcome this capability gap is Lockheed Martin’s Legion-ES IRST21, also known as the Legion Pod, which can be integrated with F-16s, Shu said. The pod uses infrared search and track technology to trace the thermal signatures of stealth fighter jets without activating a radar, and can support targeting for weapons such as AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles, he added.“The enemy would not easily detect that we are monitoring it or firing at it,” Shu said. “This way, we could ambush the adversary and pose a substantial threat to enemy warplanes.”While Lockheed Martin does not publicly disclose the Legion Pod’s detection range, the system is designed to detect and track airborne targets at extended ranges, with its effective range depending on factors such as the target’s thermal signature and environmental conditions. Taiwan has agreed to purchase 55 Legion Pods for its F-16 fleet. The US Department of State approved the sale in August 2023, and the systems are scheduled to be delivered in full by June 2031.