Military Watch:

Republic of China Defence Delegation Visits U.S. F-16 Production Line Following Major Delivery Delays

Asia-Pacific , Aircraft and Anti-Aircraft

Military Watch Magazine Editorial Staff

March-21st-2026

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F-16D Block 70 Fighter

The Republic of China Ministry of National Defence has announced today that Deputy Minister of Military Affairs Hsu Szu-chien led a delegation to the United States to visit the F-16 Block 70 fighter production line in South Carolina to witness the aircraft complete its Lockheed Martin Acceptance Check Flight. The Ministry released a photo the delegation with an assembled fighter jet, which is the second F-16 Block 70 built for the Republic of China Air Force, and the first F-16C single seat variant. The Ministry indicated that delivery will began before the end of the year. The Republic of China Armed Forces are far the largest client for the F-16 Block 70, with an $8.2 billion order having been placed in 2019 for 66 fighters. The order was vital to financing the opening of a new F-16 production line in the United States and covering the costs of developing and serially producing the F-16 Block 70 variant.

Republic of China Defence Ministry Delegation with First F-16C Block 70

The Republic of China Defence Ministry has repeatedly raised concerns over major delays to F-16 deliveries, which were initially intended to be completed deliveries in 2027. Premier Cho Jung-tai in October stated that the government did not rule out “taking legal action against the manufacturer,” although cautioning that the U.S. Foreign Military Sales process did  not provide for direct compensation claims. Production and systems integration issues in the United States have been a primary cause for delays. Only one fighter, F-16D number 6831, has been delivered so far. Data from the Taiwan Arms Sales Backlog Tracker in provided an indication of  major delays the supplies of a wide range of armaments, with outstanding backlogs having reached over $21.45 billion. 

Republic of China Air Force F-16B Block 20 Delivered in the 1990s

Although the F-16 is widely considered obsolete, having first entered service 49 years ago in 1978, the Block 70 variant significantly improves on the original design with new composite materials, a more powerful engine, modern data links and precision guided weaponry, and the AN/APG-83 active electronically scanned array radar. Nevertheless, the sophistication of the capabilities fielded by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), with which the Republic of China Armed Forces remain in state of civil war, has raised serious concerns that the F-16 Block 70 will already close to two full generations behind before deliveries are complete. The Chinese mainland currently has two of the world’s most advanced fifth generation fighters in production, and is scheduled to lead the world by at least five years in fielding sixth generation fighters, with three separate designs already in flight testing.

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Eventually the Wanks will provide the Taiwanese with some second-hand F-16s to make up for the inevitable delay in meeting its contractual obliogations.

Military Watch:

Israeli Ground Forces Take Major Losses in Clashes with Hezbollah: Multiple Merkava Tanks Destroyed

Middle East , Ground

Military Watch Magazine Editorial Staff

March-21st-2026

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Israeli Merkava Main Battle Tank

The Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah has reported multiple successes during engagements Israeli Army units, including the destruction of multiple Merkava IV main battle tanks. While Israeli authorities have imposed strict censorship regarding possible losses, Hezbollah has published footage confirming many of its claims, including the destruction of multiple types of Israeli armoured vehicles. After Israel and the United States initiated a full scale military assault against Iran on February 28, Hezbollah the following day opened a second front against Israel, with footage in early March showing strikes on Israeli tanks. These ambushes have been conducted while Hezbollah launches rockets and ballistic missiles against a range of targets within Israel, forcing the country to carry out mass evacuations. The paramilitary group’s strikes appear to be closely coordinated with Iranian ballistic missile attacks. 

Hezbollah Radwan Force Personnel

The latest setbacks to Israeli operations follow reports that Hezbollah had deployed its Radwan special forces for counteroffensives against Israeli Army units in Southern Lebanon. These elite units were notably not previously deployed for engagements with Israeli forces, and after having honed their capabilities for years to support counterinsurgency operations in Syria, they have been widely assessed to be highly capable. Hezbollah units have made extensive use of ambush tactics to launch coordinated attacks against Israeli armour, and on March 19 reported the disabling or destruction of six Merkava tanks between 12:05am and 1:30am during a series of engagements. Israel and the United States have both lobbied their strategic partner Syria to open a second front against Hezbollah, with a military buildup by Syrian Islamist militias having been staged on the Lebanese border to take pressure off Israeli forces. 

Illicit human trafficking in Malaysia – some proof Sixteen Bangladeshis found locked-up in a Hat Yai room

Murray Hunter
Mar 20, 2026


Illicit human trafficking in Malaysia – some proof
Sixteen Bangladeshis found locked-up in a Hat Yai room




Picture Bangkok Post


The last time Malaysians heard about the human trafficking of South Asian was when mass graves of Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar and Bangladesh were found in remote parts of the Wang Kelian State Park in Perlis back in 2015.

After the 2019 Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) how many Malaysian officials and businesspeople were charged over the matter? The issue just conveniently went away.

Now the human trafficking of Bangladeshis into Malaysia is continuing with proof emerging earlier this week. Thai authorities recused 16 starving Bangladeshis, who were locked up in a room just outside of Hat Yai, awaiting transport into Malaysia for ‘work’. According to the Bangkok Post, the Bangladeshi migrant workers who were found locked inside a rented house in Hat Yai for three days without food or water while awaiting illegal transport to Malaysia.

Bangkok Post

The Bangladeshis said they had travelled by boat from Bangladesh and landed illicitly in Phuket. They were then transported by road to Hat Yai to await transport into Malaysia. Each of the Bangladeshis paid Baht 96,000 for the journey. They were told work was awaiting them in Malaysia.


Illicit trade in Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia

The discovery of Bangladeshi workers on their way to Malaysia is proof that the illicit trade in undocumented Bangladeshi workers is going in in Malaysia. Its clear that these people can pass through the border either without documents or with false documents into Malaysia.

Its also clear that a network of people are hawking undocumented Bangladeshi workers to potential employers who either employ these Bangladeshis with false documents or no documents at all.

This trade is going on right in front of the Malaysian authorities. Its time for the authorities to investigate.

Trump threatens to deploy ICE agents to US airports as TSA staff miss second paycheck

Trump threatens to deploy ICE agents to US airports as TSA staff miss second paycheck



US President Donald Trump gestures as he steps from Air Force One upon his arrival in West Palm Beach, Florida March 20, 2026. — Reuters pic

Sunday, 22 Mar 2026 10:31 AM MYT

• TSA staff shortages disrupt major airport travel
• DHS expects more workers to quit if shutdown persists
• ICE agents not specifically trained for TSA duties
• Democrat calls Trump’s ICE airport plan reckless

WASHINGTON, March 22 — US President Donald Trump threatened to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to US airports tomorrow if congressional Democrats do not immediately agree to fund airport safety.

Transportation Security Administration personnel are set to miss a second full paycheck on March 27 amid a partial government shutdown in its 36th day as lawmakers clash over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency for TSA and ICE.


TSA officers have called in sick as paychecks have dried up, with the shortage of security agents disrupting travel at major airports. Over 10 per cent of TSA officers called in sick on more than half of the past seven days, DHS said in a statement yesterday.

More than 400 TSA workers have quit since the partial shutdown began on February 14, DHS said, adding that both resignations and callouts are expected to “significantly increase” as the shutdown drags on.

“I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social yesterday.

In a subsequent post, Trump said the deployment would begin today “if the Democrats do not allow for Just and Proper Security at our ⁠Airports, and elsewhere throughout our Country.”

TSA has about 65,000 employees, ⁠including 50,000 airport security officers.




Passengers wait in long TSA lines as a partial government shutdown continues, at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia March 20, 2026. — Reuters pic



ICE central to Trump immigration crackdown

ICE agents are not specifically ⁠trained for airport security, which is TSA’s ⁠domain. ICE has played a ⁠central role in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, drawing criticism from many Democrats, civil liberties advocates and immigration advocacy groups.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, criticised Trump’s proposal as “another reckless, lawless threat to misuse ICE agents.”

“He seems to have no concept of what the ⁠limits are on ICE, and I think America would be absolutely appalled to see ICE agents roaming through airports, just as they’ve been breaking down doors at homes,” Blumenthal told reporters in Washington.

Homeland Security historically has shifted resources across agencies during emergency staffing shortages, said Stewart Baker, who was a DHS policy official in President George W. Bush’s administration. Keeping TSA going without paying staff creates “serious trouble” for the agency, Baker said.

Using ICE agents for airport security “may be slower than using trained people, but ⁠it would be better than having nobody,” he added. ICE, along with Customs and Border Protection, has deployed agents over the past few months to multiple areas as part of the crackdown, most recently to Minnesota in an ⁠operation that resulted in agents fatally shooting American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Their deaths sparked a backlash and led the Trump ⁠administration to adopt a ⁠more targeted approach in Minnesota. Trump this month fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem amid growing criticism of the administration’s immigration tactics. The US Senate is considering the nomination of Senator Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, as the next DHS secretary.

Trump has said his immigration policies are intended to curb illegal immigration and improve national security.

Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union said TSA had provided lists of airport travellers to ICE, calling the move a break from TSA’s prior practices. — Reuters

US President Donald Trump branded the West “cowards”

 

From the FB page of:

Nury Vittachi 

tnerpSodos4a1meAt 83ia:hmf144Y810ttel5uydc7t13gMui8r  m45i2s ·

BREAKING NEWS: THE WEST IS TURNING TAIL. NATO staff were branded “cowards” by US President Donald Trump last night as they left their base in Iraq, citing danger from Iranian attacks.

But Trump himself then admitted that the US intended to wind down the US attack on the oil-rich nation, calling on China and Japan to take over the American assault on the Strait of Hormuz.

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NATO OUT, U.S. TO FOLLOW

Trouble started when the US President last night reacted furiously to news that Poland, and later NATO, were moving out of Iraq to head back to Europe.

“COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!” Trump wrote.

But in another statement, he made it clear the US also intended to leave soon.

“We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the Terrorist Regime of Iran. The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it.”

He named China and Japan as countries to take over military duties in those waters—although no analysts think this is remotely likely.

Analysts said it was impossible to avoid the conclusion: Iran is winning, or has won.

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HOW THE RETREAT WAS REVEALED

Following a similar step by Poland, NATO yesterday admitted that its mission in Iraq had quietly fled to Europe, with the last personnel leaving on aircraft earlier that day.

“Nato Mission Iraq has adjusted its posture, safely relocating all its personnel from the Middle East to Europe,” said a statement from the alliance’s European command.

Iraq, which the US took in 2003 in a murderous invasion widely recognized as the first great war crime of the century, has been a major base for America’s mission to control West Asian oil.

The NATO mission to Iraq was basically set up around Baghdad in 2018 to remold Iraqi authorities as tools for US-led western dominance in West Asia.

But this month, as UK and European leaders sided with Trump and Netanyahu in their surprise attack, Iran responded with attacks on troops at British, French and Italian bases in northern Iraq.

This triggered the decision to remove the NATO operation, which has large numbers of non-military staff.

The Nato statement said its mission would continue, but from a safe distance--a military headquarters in Naples, Italy.

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CONTRADICTORY STEPS

Meanwhile, Trump’s admission that the US was looking to pull out of the operation was harder to parse—as it is among several contradictory steps the US is taking.

At the exact same time that the US President admitted to wanting to “wind down” his war on Iran, two ships full of US Marines continued to head to the area to bolster the US-Israel attack.

And other nations have also stepped up their role. The UK has shifted its definition of "defensive" to an absurd degree. Providing UK facilities to US bombers who then attack Iranians defending their homeland is now defined as "defensive".

But Trump’s words were unusually clear. The US will no longer be involved in efforts to force the Iranians to abandon their closure of the Strait of Hormuz, he said, as others will take that duty.

The most the US would do would be to stand by to provide aid. “If asked, we will help these Countries in their Hormuz efforts …” he said.

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NATIONS REBRAND IRAN AS THE AGGRESSOR

In yet another contradictory move, more pro-US nations yesterday said they were joining the UK and some EU nations pledging to help the US force the Iranians to reopen the waterway.

The countries siding with Trump are Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Canada, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Denmark, Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Romania, Bahrain and Lithuania.

All signed a document that portrayed Iran as an illegal military aggressor, making no mention of the fact that the Iranians were responding to a US-Israel attack.

The list is valuable, giving the rest of the world a clear indication of which countries ultimately see the US as their ultimate leader, happy to subvert reality to rebrand the Iranians as the aggressors in a war in which they are clearly the victims.

If these nations ever had any moral high ground, they have lost it forever.