Republic of China Air Force fighters yesterday took to the skies to intercept a simulated air attack by hostile forces on the second day of the annual live-fire Han Kuang war games.
The aircraft included Indigenous Defense Fighters and Mirage 2000 fighter jets, photographs provided by the Military News Agency showed.
The operations on the ground involved radar vehicles and the Avenger air-defense missile system — a US-made self-propelled surface-to-air weapons platform to defend against cruise missiles, uncrewed aerial vehicles and other low-flying aircraft — the Ministry of National Defense’s news service said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
Sirens wailed across Taiwan at 1:30pm, signaling the start of a 30-minute Wan An public air-raid drill, and an alert was sent to mobile phones at the beginning and end of the annual drill.
“This is an exercise simulating a missile attack, but it will not involve traffic controls or dispersal of pedestrians,” the text message read, as the government this year decided not to clear the streets to avoid having people cluster in shelters, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Han Kuang exercises are not open to the media, except tomorrow, when an anti-landing drill is to be held at Jianan Beach in Taichung.
Monday’s exercises involved the launch of Patriot surface-to-air missiles and Sky Bow air-defense missiles to intercept a simulated missile attack on the Presidential Office Building in Taipei.
At the Military Police School Linkou Campus, special forces from the military, police and coast guard units conducted a drill to rescue government leaders held hostage by invading forces inside critical government offices.
Fighters based on the west coast flew to the east coast to avoid a simulated missile attack, while armored vehicles took cover in culverts and under bridges.
The exercises are to continue this week.
The computer-simulated tabletop training component of the exercises is scheduled to be held from Sept. 14 to 18.
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