Senior Taiwanese military personnel observed a US-led joint air exercise alongside the South Korean and Japanese air forces in Alaska, a now-removed image published on Tuesday by the Pentagon showed.
The caption of the image — which has since been removed from the US military’s Defense Visual Information Distribution Service — said that senior-ranking military observers from Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, the UK and Canada on Friday last week gathered at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson to observe the Red Flag-Alaska 25-2 exercise.
The exercise involved an estimated 1,500 personnel and 70 aircraft from the US, Japanese and South Korean air forces, the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) said in a news release.
Photo courtesy of the US Department of Defense
The drills aimed to strengthen multinational integration in support of the US Pacific Air Forces’ strategic objective of “credible, combat-ready forces capable of projecting power and deterring aggression in the region,” it said.
The exercise’s participants conducted offensive and defensive aerial operations in mock battles under “contested, degraded and operationally limited environments,” it said.
INDOPACOM emphasized the US strategic partnership with Japan and South Korea, saying that the exercise would “sharpen warfighting skills and enhance interoperability in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
“Red Flag Alaska 25-2 allows US military forces and our Pacific-based allies to safely train for a high-end fight, ensuring a lethal force prepared for deterrence,” said US Air Force Major Michael Dzyndra, the Red Flag-Alaska deployed forces deputy commander.
“We’re not just training together; we’re learning how to integrate more effectively to meet shared challenges head-on,” the release quoted him as saying.
“Red Flag-Alaska offers the Japan Air Self Defense Force a valuable opportunity to enhance interoperability intensively with the United States Air Force and other air forces of allied nations, while also deepening mutual understanding,” Japan Air Self Defense Force Air Support Commander Colonel Kazuhiro Nakajima said in the release.
The joint combat scenarios build the operational capability of participating units with the training occurring across the Joint Pacific-Alaska Range Complex, the Pacific Air Forces said.
The air drills build operational capability by training forces across the Joint Pacific-Alaska Range Complex, INDOPACOM said.
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion. Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China seas, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” by force, and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight. Stavros Lambrinidis, head of the EU delegation to the UN, also highlighted South China Sea
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expects its 2-nanometer (2nm) chip capacity to grow at a compound annual rate of 70 percent from this year to 2028. The projection comes as five fabs begin volume production of 2-nanometer chips this year — two in Hsinchu and three in Kaohsiung — TSMC senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer Cliff Hou (侯永清) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Silicon Valley, California, last week. Output in the first year of 2-nanometer production, which began in the fourth quarter of last year, is expected to
Taiwan’s drone exports surged past US$100 million in the first quarter, exceeding last year’s full-year total, with the Czech Republic emerging as the largest buyer, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Exports of complete drones reached US$115.85 million in the period, about 1.2 times the total recorded for all of last year, the ministry said in a report. Exports to the Czech Republic accounted for about US$100 million, far outpacing other markets. Poland, last year’s top destination, recorded about US$11.75 million in the first quarter. Taiwan’s drone exports have expanded rapidly in the past few years, with last year’s total
RSS