According to a report on June 7 on the US " Newsweek " website, a jet fighter's "hard landing" at Honolulu International Airport this week is another sign of the secret defense partnership between the United States and Taiwan. . According to reports, the U.S.-Taiwan security relationship has been put behind the scenes for decades due to political sensitivities related to China.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said that after a F-16 fighter plane made an emergency landing at Hawaii's Daniel Inouye International Airport (Honolulu International Airport - this website's note) at 2:45 pm local time on the 6th, the airport The R4 runway is temporarily closed to air traffic. The U.S. Department of Transportation said the fighter jet failed to lower its landing gear and the pilot used a tailhook to brake the jet.
The F-16 fighter plane involved in the accident (Taiwan United News Network)
The "Honolulu Star-Advertiser" said that the plane was "a visiting aircraft from a force outside Hawaii." The aircraft was slightly damaged and no casualties were reported.
Taipei reports confirmed that the F-16 fighter belonged to the Taiwan Air Force. Taiwan TVBS News Channel military reporter Liu Tingting said that the Taiwan Air Force F-16 fighter was returning to Taiwan (by Taichung Hanxiang Company) for upgrades as planned. The fighter has been stationed at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona for the past 20 years, where it is used to assist in training Taiwan Air Force pilots.
A report on the Newsweek website stated that Taiwan still owns most of the 150 F-16 fighter jets purchased from the United States in the 1990s. In 2020, Taiwan finalized an agreement to purchase an additional 66 F-16 fighter jets and began to renovate the old airframes. By the time the upgrade plan is completed in 2026, Taiwan will have one of the largest F-16 fighter fleets in Asia, reaching about 200 aircraft.
Maintenance and pilot training are conducted at Luke Air Force Base , where about 12 Taiwan Air Force F-16 fighters are stationed, but these aircraft do not have any military markings.
A spokesperson for the Pentagon told this reporter that the F-16 fighter jet involved on the 6th was flown by an American pilot. The
report also stated that in accordance with the "Taiwan Relations Act", US-Taiwan military cooperation continues, "albeit in very secretive ways." As we all know, American instructors participated in Taiwan's annual "Han Kuang" military exercises as observers, and it has become an open secret that the U.S. Special Forces task force trains Taiwan's elite troops.
Source: Reference News Network
