The air force base in Hsinchu City is holding an open day today from 9am to 4pm, where the nation’s Thunder Tigers aerobatic display team is to put on a performance in their AT-3 trainer jets.
The day is also set to feature F16s, Mirage 2000s and the nation’s Indigenous Defense Fighters (IDF) in action.
Ministry of National Defense officials said the event is a rare opportunity for civilians to enter the Hsinchu Air Base, interact with military personnel and to tour a display of aircraft and weapons, so that the public can be confident of the professionalism and combat readiness of the nation’s troops.
Photo: CNA
The ministry gave Hsinchu residents and reporters a preview of the open day on Thursday, with the Thunder Tigers undertaking the first public performance of aerial stunts and formation flying since a training accident that killed one of the team’s members in October last year.
The preview saw spectators burst into applause after a thrilling air show by the Thunder Tigers, followed by equally impressive aerial performances by Taiwanese pilots in IDFs, F16s and Mirage 2000 fighters.
On the runway, the public can get a close-up look at the fighter jets and gain an understanding of Taiwan’s weapons modernization program over the past decade, with armored personnel carriers, radar equipment, artillery cannons, truck-mounted missile launchers and other types of military vehicles on display.
Another section of the runway is to showcase a range of US-made aircraft, including an E-2K Hawkeye early warning airplane, a C-130 Hercules transport airplane, an AH-1W Cobra helicopter, an AH-64E Apache helicopter and a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.
Air Force Major General Tsao Chin-pin (曹進平) invited members of the public to visit and have a good look inside the air base, which houses the 499th Tactical Fighter Wing, of which he is the commanding officer.
In between the air shows, the public is to be entertained by the Air Force Marching Band and a performance by its Honor Guard Rifle Drill Team, Tsao said.
There will be shuttle buses to the base between 7am and 3pm from the bus stop next to the rear exit of Hsinchu City Station, as well as from the High Speed Rail’s Hsinchu terminal in Jhubei City (竹北).
Entry to the base requires a visitor to present their ID card to verify they are Taiwanese.
Foreign nationals who are married to Taiwanese must show their ARC or APRC and be accompanied by their spouse to enter the military facility.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
RSS