The air force this morning simulated anti-aircraft strikes with Patriot II and Tien Kung III missiles in Pingtung County in a rare live-fire exercise open to the media.
The exercise was conducted by the Air Defense and Missile Command at the Jiupeng (九鵬) military base in Manjhou Township (滿州).
The first target drone was launched at about 6am. At 6:20am, the target was detected on radar and a Patriot II missile was launched to intercept it.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
A Tien Kung (Sky Bow) III missile was launched by another unit to intercept a second target at 6:55am, while another Patriot missile was launched at 7:28am toward a third drone by a separate unit.
All three successfully hit their targets, which were about 30km away beyond observers’ line of sight, the military said.
The exercise was a test of decentralized command, allowing each unit to complete the exercise according to the established chain of command to better simulate real-life scenarios, 794th Brigade Captain Kao Shu-li (高淑莉) said.
The success of the exercise shows the air force’s training and command and control capabilities during joint operations, he said.
It was the first time since 2012 that the Jiupeng base was opened to the media.
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