Jets and Munitions Begin Delivery

Author: Joe O’Connor & TSM Staff

---

August 2026, unlike July, showed quite a bit of activity regarding the backlog, including the near-imminent delivery of the F-16C/D Block 70s and ongoing deliveries of munitions for the F-16. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) also announced updates relating to Harpoon Coastal Defense Systems and additional ALTIUS unmanned systems. In August, Congress received no new Foreign Military Sales (FMS) notifications for Taiwan, and no existing sales were fully delivered. The total value of FMS cases notified to Congress but not yet delivered to Taiwan is still $29.72 billion.

Figure 1 shows how the backlog is divided among asymmetric weapons, traditional weapons, and munitions. Arms sales that are only partly delivered are marked in yellow-orange. Table 1 lists all arms sales in the backlog with the latest status updates. Partially delivered sales are shown in italics, while newly announced and fully delivered sales are marked with bold and underlining. 

F-16 Munitions Reported as Partially Delivered

Additional reporting on 20 August detailing preparations for the arrival of F-16s in Taiwan revealed that several sales of munitions for the jets are in progress. An initial batch of AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder air-to-air missiles has already arrived, out of approximately 140 expected in total. The Sidewinder sale was notified to Congress in September 2022 and is worth approximately $86 million. 

The same report also indicated that all 100 AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARMs) “have been fully deployed.” Initial batches of AIM-120-C8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs), out of 200 total, are also in delivery. Combined, the HARMs and AMRAAMs represent a sale of “F-16 Munitions” notified to Congress in March 2023, valued at $619 million. Since both are still in delivery, we have reflected that in Figure 1 and Table 1, for an additional $705 million of items in delivery this month.

The same reporting on the above sales’ delivery statuses also confirmed prior reporting about massive delays in delivery of AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapons (JSOW) air-to-ground missiles, noting that delivery would not occur until “between 2027 and 2028.” The JSOW sale, the most-delayed sale in the backlog, having been notified to Congress in June 2017, will have been in the pipeline to Taipei for nearly a decade before deliveries even begin, if timelines stay consistent.

Updates on HCDS, ALTIUS Sales, MS-110 Pods

Various updates also emerged about the following sales this month:

HCDS:

On 4 August, the MND made a final contract award for transport of Harpoon Coastal Defense System equipment from manufacturing facilities in the United States to Taiwan. Worth NT$250 million (US$7.8 million), the performance period is scheduled to run from 1 August 2026 to 31 July 2028, indicating that deliveries will end by mid-2028.

ALTIUS:

On 27 August, the MND signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) for the sale of 1,554 ALTIUS-700M loitering munitions and 478 ALTIUS-600M ISR drones, a sale notified in December 2025 worth approximately US$1.1 billion. The final contract award posted on Taiwan’s E-Procurement System, worth NT$26.9 billion (US$876 million) is expected to represent the costs for the physical systems themselves, per Liberty Times reporting. Additionally, the drones are expected to be delivered by the fourth quarter of 2026, but the final delivery deadline was reportedly extended to 2033.

MS-110 Recce Pods:

On 26 August, Liberty Times reported that a ROCAF F-16V carrying an MS-110 reconnaissance pod was sighted around Jiashan Air Base in Hualien, in its first test by the Taiwanese Air Force. While the report did not provide any update on the delivery status (TSM estimates that the sale remains in delivery until otherwise stated), the test remains a good indicator of Taipei’s desire to integrate incoming systems with existing airframes as soon as they arrive on the island.

Contract Awards

One notable US contract award involving a Taiwan backlog item appeared this month. On 17 August, the U.S. Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $31.29 million contract for “advisory engineering and technical services” for an undisclosed program. This involved FMS customers, including Taiwan and 10 other countries, all of whom own and operate F-16 fighter jets. Based on that, TSM assesses that this is for engineering services for F-16 Block 70s in Taiwan’s case and other F-16 variants for other FMS customers.