* Taiwan faces delays in US weapons deliveries

* Lockheed Martin ( LMT ): committed to Taiwan's security goals

* US in 2019 approved $8 bln sale of F-16 fighter jets to

Taiwan

TAIPEI, March 22 (Reuters) - Deliveries of delayed F-16V

fighter jets for Taiwan will begin this year with production at

"full capacity", the island's defence ministry said after senior

defence officials visited the United States.

Taiwan, which faces a rising military threat from China, has

complained of repeated delays to weapons ordered from the U.S.,

the most important international backer and arms supplier for

the island, which Beijing claims as its territory.

The United States in 2019 approved an $8 billion sale of

Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, a deal that

would take the island's F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets, but

the project has been hit by issues including software problems.

Deputy Minister Hsu Szu-chien, accompanied by Air Force

Deputy Chief of Staff Tien Chung-yi, visited Lockheed Martin's ( LMT )

F-16V assembly line in South Carolina on Monday to view the

first aircraft, Taiwan's defence ministry said in a statement

late on Saturday.

Deliveries will begin this year, the ministry said, without

elaborating.

Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) has assigned several hundred personnel to

assemble the remaining aircraft, and "there are no bottlenecks

in either parts supply or manpower; production is proceeding at

full capacity on a two-shift schedule", it said.

Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) said in a statement that it was committed to

"delivering advanced deterrence capabilities to support Taiwan's

security goals".

"We continue to work closely with the U.S. government to

accelerate delivery where possible," it said.

Because the F-16V is a new model specially designed for

Taiwan, continued test flights are still needed to fine-tune its

systems, and tests must be carefully carried out, the ministry

said.

Taiwan has converted 141 older F-16A/B jets into the F-16V

type and has ordered 66 new F-16Vs, which have advanced

avionics, weapons and radar systems to better face down the

Chinese air force, including its stealthy J-20 fighters.