TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese F-16V fighters armed with missiles on Wednesday (Aug. 17) roared off the runway at Hualien Air Base during a night demonstration of the warplanes' capabilities with a "combat readiness" exercise.
Two F-16Vs from the Air Force's 5th Tactical Composite Wing provided a demonstration of night takeoffs for the media. The fighter jets were armed with a full complement of anti-ship and air-to-air missiles.
(CNA photo)
During the afternoon, ground crews demonstrated arming the fighters with Boeing AGM-84L Harpoon anti-ship missiles, AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, and AIM-120C-7 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, reported CNA. During the loading process, officials explained the various considerations when mounting the weapons, such as positioning, balance, and a time limit of 60 minutes.
Sung Yu-ning (宋玉寧), a senior editor of Defense International Magazine, told the news agency that the Air Force's missile mounting operations on Wednesday were in response to Chinese warships recently appearing off the coast of Taiwan and the corresponding actions taken by the military to guard territorial waters. He added that the AIM-120C-7 and AIM-9X missiles were meant to demonstrate that the fighter can conduct both air and sea interdictions at the same time.
(CNA photo)
In the evening, the Air Force's 5th Tactical Composite Wing demonstrated an emergency night take-off mission. Outside Hangar No. 4, a bell suddenly rang and pilots on standby immediately rushed out of the standby room and boarded the fighter jets and a ground crew foreman carried out an inspection of the aircraft. The aircraft left their hangars, taxied to the runway, and blasted off into the night sky, a process that must take less than six minutes, according to regulations to complete the "combat readiness tasks."
(CNA photo)
(CNA photo)
(CNA photo)
(CNA photo)
(CNA photo)
(CNA photo)
