Taiwan’s Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF) jets were included in the air force’s joint exercises with French pilots for the first time this year, the Ministry of National Defense said.
This year’s exercises, which ended yesterday, were conducted at air force bases in Hsinchu County and Hualien County.
The air force in the middle of October dispatched six Mirage-2000 fighter jets to the Hualien base for the exercises, with members of the 2nd Tactical Fighter Wing and French pilots operating the planes, the ministry said.
Photo: Yu Tai-lang, Taipei Times
They conducted combat training with members of the 17th Tactical Fighter Combat team of the 5th Tactical Mixed Wing, who acted as enemy combatants, it said.
Aside from Mirage 2000 and F-16V jets, IDF jets also joined the drills, the ministry said, adding that the scale of the joint exercises this year was almost comparable to the Tienlong Exercises, the air force’s annual tactical acceptance test.
The annual event is important, as it is one of the few military exchanges where Taiwanese air force pilots have the opportunity to train with pilots from overseas, the ministry said.
Since the Mirage 2000 jets became part of the air force’s fleet, the ministry has been sending top-rated air force pilots to France to undergo tactical training, it said.
Retired French Air Force members also frequently travel to Taiwan to train with members of the 2nd Tactical Fighter Wing, it said.
The ministry said that it budgeted nearly NT$50 million (US$1.54 million) to cover expenses during the joint training, including about NT$20 million for military facilities and technical training fees, close to NT$10 million for tactical training and approximately NT$18 million for simulation jet training.
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