Taiwan shows off F-16 jets rapid response amid tension

Taiwan's air force showcased its ability to rapidly replenish and get back in the air its most advanced F-16 fighter jets in a readiness drill on Wednesday, designed ⁠to demonstrate combat-oriented training.



Taiwan's air force scrambles on an almost daily basis to monitor and warn off Chinese aircraft which routinely fly ⁠around the island.

Taipei views the incursions as part of an ongoing harassment campaign to test and tire out the much smaller Taiwanese forces and exert political pressure.

President Lai Ching-te's administration, as part of a defence modernisation programme, has pushed for more combat-realistic training that relies less on set-piece performances and more on simulating actual combat.



At the Chiayi air base in southern Taiwan, ⁠personnel loaded up U.S.-made AIM-9M Sidewinder and AIM-120 AMRAAM anti-aircraft missiles onto a Lockheed Martin F-16V fighter jet to get the aircraft quickly back in the air.



Taiwan routinely holds drills ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts next month, though these are the first to take place in front of ⁠the media since China held its latest round of war games around the island in late December.