Hong Kong (CNN)Taiwan will receive 66 new American-made F-16 fighter jets in the biggest arms sale to the self-governing island in years.
The deal finalized on Friday comes as China has been increasing pressure on the island, which Beijing considers to be an inseparable part of its territory.
Friday's announcement was made on the website of United States Defense Department, under the contacts updated section. The posting said the US Air Force was awarding a contract to Lockheed Martin, the maker of the F-16, for 90 of the planes as part of US foreign military sales.
No customer for the purchase was named, but a US State Department source confirmed that an order from Taiwan approved by the Trump administration a year ago was part of the deal.
The other 24 aircraft are expected to go to Morocco. Final deliveries are expected by 2026.
The new F-16s, known as the F-16V or Viper, will be made at Lockheed Martin factories in Greenville, South Carolina, and Fort Worth, Texas. They will be the latest, upgraded models of the single-engine aircraft which first flew with the US Air Force in the late 1970s. They will join about 140 others already in the Taiwanese fleet.
