TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) on Monday defended Taiwan’s decision to equip its newly purchased F-16V fighter jets with the AN/ALQ-254 Viper Shield electronic warfare suite, saying the system meets operational requirements despite concerns that the US Air Force may eventually adopt a different system for its own F-16 fleet.
UDN reported Monday that the US Air Force plans to begin replacing the system on its F-16s with the AN/ALQ-257 Integrated Viper Electronic Warfare Suite next year. The report raised questions about whether the purchase complies with the Legislative Yuan’s requirement that major military equipment acquired from the US remain consistent with systems used by US forces, per CNA.
Koo told the Legislative Yuan the timeline cited in the report was misleading. He noted that the resolution was passed in 2012 in connection with the F-16A/B Block 20 upgrade program and that those aircraft could not accommodate an internally integrated electronic warfare system.
He said Viper Shield was selected after evaluations found it met Taiwan’s operational requirements and noted that it is the standard electronic warfare suite for F-16V aircraft purchased by several countries. Koo added that the US military has not yet made a final decision on whether to adopt the Integrated Viper Electronic Warfare Suite.
Viper Shield has completed operational testing and secured export orders, CNA reported. Compared with earlier systems, it is designed to more effectively identify threats and jam enemy electronic signals.
According to defense contractor L3Harris, the system’s reduced number of key components, enabled by its modular design, makes it lighter, more reliable, and easier to maintain. Its internal integration also allows it to work closely with the F-16V Block 70’s AN/APG-83 active electronically scanned array radar, providing broader threat awareness and more time for pilots to respond.
Taiwan is not the only operator to adopt the system. Bahrain, Bulgaria, Morocco, and Slovakia have also selected Viper Shield for their F-16V fleets, according to CNA.
