Fighter aircraft and helicopters, including F-16s, Mirage-2000s, “Ching Kuo” Indigenous Defense Fighters and E2-Ks, completed low approach training maneuvers on a highway strip in the south of the nation in drizzling rain yesterday without a hitch.
Beginning at about 8am over the Jiadong Highway strip in Pingtung County, each of the Air Force aircraft exercised the highly demanding skill at a height of 30m.
The drill marked the first time ever that an E-2K airborne early-warning aircraft, commissioned in 2009, took part in a low-flying training exercise.
Photo: Patrick Lin, AFP
The E-2K “Hawkeye” aircraft can patrol for five hours at a time and detect ship or aircraft movement over a large area, therefore significantly extending the advance warning of any attack.
Because of the rain, which has lasted for the past three days, the air force decided to adjust, instead of cancel, other training exercises, including fueling and loading. The jets’ low approach drill was part of a joint combat training exercise that also involved the army’s OH-58D scout helicopter, a CH-47 heavy-lift helicopter and two AH-1W attack helicopters.
While the OH-58D scout helicopter hovered on a reconnaissance mission, two AH-1Ws covered the CH-47D Chinook, a central element in the Gulf War, on a supply transport exercise.
The maneuver won a big round of applause from bystanders after the CH-47D tilted to complete the exercise.
The drills were the first to be held on the highway that was built 24 years ago. The exercises were considered one of the most demanding to date, as they were being conducted on a highway surrounded by mountains and near the weather-beaten southernmost tip of the nation.
The aircraft drills were part of a five-day nationwide military exercise involving about 3,400 members of the three main branches of the armed forces, code-named “Chang Ching 12,” that started on Monday and is scheduled to wrap up today.
The military prepared the highway a month ago, clearing potential obstacles from the surface of the road.
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