A recent incident in which an Air Force (ROCAF) F-16 pilot lost consciousness midflight has renewed public interest in the ROCAF’s previously announced plan to install Auto-GCAS on F-16 fighter jets. The ROCAF stated Wednesday that the project is being carried out in conjunction with the F-16 upgrade program initiated in 2020.

This past Monday, during routine air-defense training, an F-16V pilot temporarily lost consciousness due to high G-forces during a maneuver. Fortunately, after multiple calls from his wingman, the pilot regained consciousness and was able to land the plane safely. The Air Force has emphasized that this was the pilot’s first G-induced loss of consciousness incident.

As the incident calls back to the fatal fighter jet accidents of 2018 and 2022, it has revived discussion about the installation of Auto-GCAS, or Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, on the ROCAF F-16 fleet. The Air Force said they expect installation work to be completed by 2028, explaining that because they are preparing to use a new hybrid flight control computer, the entire flight control computer architecture must be changed, in addition to software upgrades.

The Air Force also pointed out that the U.S. completed system integration verification last year, and everything is functioning normally. The U.S. will be providing the hybrid flight control computers, which will be delivered to Taiwan in batches for replacement. As for the 66 new F-16V Blk 70 fighter jets Taiwan purchased from the U.S., Auto-GCAS will be installed at the factory before delivery.