Two Mirage 2000-5 jet fighters yesterday landed on the Sun Yat-sen Freeway, refueled, loaded up with ammunition and took off within 40 minutes during the annual Han Kuang military exercise in Tainan County.
The landing on the Jenteh section of the freeway was the climax of the military exercise, which began yesterday and involves the air force, army and navy.
The Mirages practiced landing, refueling and reloading as part of a scenario in which the air force's major airports were assumed to have been destroyed.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Three Mirages, a single-seat fighter and two two-seaters, took off from the Hsinchu air base at 5:42am and arrived at the "Jenteh Runway" around 6:20am. The single-seat Mirage patrolled the skies while its wing mates carried out the freeway mission.
The first Mirage, flown by Major Chang Wei-kwang (
The air force introduced the four pilots who took part in the landing drill to the media at a press conference at the base later yesterday.
The 28-year-old Chen received the most attention, not only because he is the youngest pilot in the group, but also because of his younger brother, Chen Chien-chou (陳建洲), a famous TV personality and former member of the national basketball team. Their father, who had been an officer in the air force and a China Airlines pilot, died in the Nagoya crash in 1994.
"This is quite an experience. But I did not do anything fancy. We just followed the drill and did what we were trained for. I am quite sure every air force pilot can do this," Chen Chien-liang said.
"I will definitely pass my experience on to my fellow junior pilots. That is the spirit of the air force," he said.
Meanwhile, retired army general Shui Hua-ming (
"Landing on the freeway is no different from landing on a regular runway. The only difference is, well, it is the freeway, not an airport," Shui said.
"The idea behind landing on the freeway is to use it in case major airports are destroyed. But if the enemy can destroy your airports, why can't they destroy the freeway as well?" he asked.
"What pilots actually need to practice is landing the aircraft safely on a runway at any time whenever necessary," he said.
Shui said that yesterday's exercise was more useful as propaganda to warn China that "We are capable of doing this, although we haven't done anything like it for the past 25 years."
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
CHIPS AND DEFENSE: Trump said the US had lost its chip business and Taipei should pay it for defense, and added that ‘we’re no different than an insurance company’ Taiwan-US relations are solid, and both sides are in agreement that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region are everyone’s concern, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday following comments by former US president Donald Trump that Taiwan “should pay” for US defense. Taiwan is thankful to the US for supporting Taiwan’s bid to participate in international organizations, Cho told a news conference in Taipei. “I know the people very well, respect them greatly. They did take about 100 percent of our chip business,” Trump told Bloomberg on June 25 in an interview that was published on Tuesday. “I think
SECURITY CONCERNS: An FBI agent said it was surprising that the shooter, whose motive remains unknown, was able to open fire before the Secret Service killed him On the heels of an apparent attempt to kill him, former US president Donald Trump yesterday called for unity and resilience as shocked leaders across the political divide recoiled from the shooting that left him injured, but “fine,” and the shooter and a rally-goer dead. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting His aides said he was in “great spirits” and doing well. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place,” he
SHOW OF SUPPORT: Taiwan has been one of the largest buyers of US defense equipment, supporting American businesses and jobs, US lawmakers said Taiwan has been paying for its own defense, a US Department of State official said on Wednesday, adding that purchases of military equipment are important to the US economy and for ensuring regional security. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller was asked at a news conference about comments by former US president Donald Trump, the Republican nominee in November’s US presidential election, who said during an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek that Taiwan should pay Washington for its defense needs. “The purchases that they [Taiwan] have made not only are important, we believe, to regional security, but are important to the United States economy,”