Taiwan showed off its most advanced fighter jet, a US-made F-16-V missile-equipped combat aircraft, on a rare night flight following China’s unprecedented military exercise off the island’s coast.
And in August this year, Beijing conducted several days of air and naval maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait, coinciding with a visit to the island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, followed by another visit by a US congressional delegation. In response to Chinese maneuvers, Taiwan conducted maneuvers that simulated a response to a possible Chinese invasion.
And on Wednesday evening, Taiwan Air Force units at a base in Hualien County (east) carried American-made AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles under the wings of an F-16-V fighter, a modernized and more sophisticated version of the F. 16 fighters from the 90s.
As part of these “alert” exercises, six F-16-V aircraft, including two armed with missiles, flew from the air base at night, on a night reconnaissance mission, the Taiwan Air Force said.
