“The air force will examine the precision firing abilities of its F-16s, Mirage-2005s, and IDF fighter jets which will be equipped with AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles, Mica anti-air multi-target missiles, and Tien Chien-2 (Sky Sword II) beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles, respectively,” the source said on condition of anonymity.
AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles will also be used to test the ability of the F-16s to strike enemy ships, the source said, adding that the navy will also deploy warships to strike enemy vessels with ship-launched missiles, including the Hsiung Feng III medium-range supersonic missiles.
03:01
China’s PLA sends dozens of warplanes near Taiwan as island holds annual Han Kuang military drills
“More than 100 missiles are expected to be fired in the drills, with ranges far enough to clear the Taiwan Strait,” the source said.
Beijing views Taiwan as its territory, which must be brought under its control, by force if necessary. Cross-strait tensions have risen since Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, was elected in 2016. She has refused to accept Beijing’s one-China principle.
As a result, Beijing has suspended cross-strait talks and official exchanges with the island, while ramping up pressure on Taipei by staging war games in the region and poaching Taiwan’s allies. Like most countries, the United States – Taiwan’s biggest informal ally and arms supplier – does not recognise the island as an independent state but is opposed to the unilateral change of the cross-strait status quo by force.
The source said that with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) stepping up sabre-rattling against Taiwan and increasing its activities off the island’s east coast, the missile drills are one of the important exercises required to enhance the military’s combat readiness in the east.
For years, Taiwan has focused its military fortifications on the west of the island – the side closest to mainland China – as the east is shielded by the Central Mountain Range, making it harder for the PLA to attack.
But since the PLA stepped up deployments of warplanes and warships to areas off southeast and eastern Taiwan, local military experts have warned that it could be expanding its forces close to eastern Taiwan in a bid to reinforce its ability to attack the island from the east during a potential conflict.
Shu Hsiao-huang, an analyst at the Institute for National Defence and Security Research, a government think tank in Taipei, said that by expanding its forces to eastern Taiwan, the PLA hoped to form an effective blockade against the island in the event of a cross-strait conflict.
“But to achieve this [blockade] goal, the PLA needs to secure at least partial supremacy in the West Pacific to deny access to US forces from there,” he said, referring to the region of the Pacific Ocean facing the island’s east and southeast coast.
