Taiwan Air Force stages annual Sky Dragon drills
ROC Central News Agency
11/07/2022 06:26 PM
Taipei, Nov. 7 (CNA) Taiwan's Air Force began its annual Tien Lung, or "Sky Dragon," drills Monday, which will involve both aerial combat exercises and ground-based support operations over a six-day period, according to a military source.
The source said that the Tien Long exercises would be divided into competitive testing of pilots' and fighters' air-to-ground, air-to-sea, and air-to-air combat skills, and ground-based logistics support drills.
According to the source, the Air Force's Indigenous Defense Fighters, F-16Vs, and Mirage 2000 jets taking part in the first portion of the drills are currently stationed at the Hualien Air Base in eastern Taiwan.
The competitive testing component of this year's Tien Long will run through Saturday, followed by logistic support exercises.
The annual drills are being staged amid rising cross-strait tensions and routine incursions by People's Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
Taiwan's military has responded by routinely sending aircraft to issue radio warnings until the PLA planes leave the ADIZ, and it has also published information on such intrusions since Sept. 17, 2020.
Taiwan's ADIZ, a self-defined area in which the country states it has the right to identify, locate and control approaching foreign aircraft, is not part of territorial airspace as defined by international law.
(By Matt Yu and Joseph Yeh)
Enditem/ASG
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