The first two F-16V Block 70 fighter jets from a batch of 66 US-made planes ordered by Taiwan in 2019 landed at Chihhang Air Base near Taitung on the island’s mountainous east coast at midday Friday local time.

The aircraft flew via Hawaii and Guam, according to DW, and the jets, made by Lockheed Martin as part of an $8 billion sale agreed seven years ago, are equipped with advanced avionics and radar systems.