US-based Singaporean, Taiwanese F-16s take part in Arizona COVID-19 flypast

Lockheed-Martin F-16 and F-35 fighter jets from Luke Air Force Base in Arizona together with the Arizona Air National Guard’s 161st Air Refuelling Wing (ARW) conducted a massive flypast over the city of Phoenix on Friday afternoon local time to pay tribute to Arizona’s front line COVID-19 responders.

The 15-aircraft flypast included a Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker from the 161st ARW, together with F-16s and F-35s from Luke’s resident 56th Fighter Wing.

Among the participants of the flypast were F-16s from the Republic of Singapore Air Force and Taiwan’s Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF), who both maintain long term F-16 crew training detachments at Luke.

In the photo above RSAF’s roundel can be seen on aircraft 120 (s/n 97-0120) while the Taiwanese jet (704, s/n 93-0704) carries USAF markings due to political sensitivity but has the distinctive parachute housing at the base of its vertical tail, which USAF F-16s do not have.

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