The Republic of China Air Force yesterday used a closed-off motorway as a runway in a rare drill simulating a surprise attack from China that had wiped out its major airbases.
In all, six fighter aircraft landed and took off from Freeway No. 1 in an emergency landing and takeoff exercise, under the watchful eye of hundreds of spectators.
The one-hour drill anticipated a scenario in which runways at airbases in Greater Kaohsiung’s Gangshan Township (岡山), Penghu’s Magong (馬公), Pingtung and Greater Tainan were destroyed by three waves of missile attacks by China, forcing the air force to use alternative locations for landing and takeoff, the Ministry of National Defense said.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
“In today’s scenario, we assumed most of Taiwan’s military air bases were severely damaged in an attack by missiles from the People’s Liberation Army, and fighter jets could not return to their home bases,” an air force spokesman told reporters.
“Because of that we needed to convert some sections of the freeway to serve as emergency runways ... and for that purpose, we need to check the standard procedures, like clearing up the road surface, setting up communications networks and installing plane arrest cables,” he said.
In the exercise, which began at 7:26am in heavy fog, two Indigenous Defense Fighters (IDF), two F-16A/Bs and two Mirage 2000s landed on a 2.7km stretch of Freeway No. 1 in the Madou area of Greater Tainan. More than 1,300 members of the armed services participated in the exercise.
Photo: AFP
The IDF fighters took off from Tainan Air Base, while the F-16s and Mirage 2000s took off from Chiashan Base (佳山) in Hualien County.
To ensure the planes could land safely, a large number of soldiers were ordered to carry out a meticulous search for stones or other small objects on the road.
Several cars also drove along the motorway, releasing high-frequency sounds to scare away birds that might be sucked into the turbines of the jets.
As the six combat aircraft landed on the freeway, an army OH-58D scout helicopter carried out surveillance and an AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter provided protection for a CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter carrying bombs and missiles for the fighter aircraft.
Security checks, refilling and missile reloading on the six aircraft were accomplished within one hour. Each IDF aircraft was loaded with six Mk 82 bombs, while each F-16 was fitted with AGM-65 Maverick and AGM-84 Harpoon missiles and the Mirage 2000s were loaded with MICA missiles.
At 8:26am, the six combat aircraft took off at intervals of one minute.
The Madou section of the freeway was closed from 4am until 10am yesterday.
The drill was part of the five-day Han Kuang 27, an annual series of exercises that began on Monday and end on Friday.
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
DETERRENCE: Along with US$500 million in military aid and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees, the bill would allocate US$400 million to countering PRC influence The US House of Representatives on Friday approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025 that includes US$500 million in military aid for Taiwan. The legislation, which authorizes funding for the US Department of State, US foreign operations and related programs for next year, passed 212-200 in the Republican-led House. The bill stipulates that the US would provide no less than US$500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to enhance deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, and offer Taipei up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose. The funding would be made available under the US’ Foreign Military