Preparing for an expected assault from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), Taiwanese F-16 Vipers will be the vanguard and armed with lethal arms.
To fight the PLA of China, Taipei has armed ita four Vipers with a subsonic ship killer called the Harpoon missile to protect the east coasts, remarked Liberty Times.
Taipei's Newest Assets To Face Chinese Warships
The People's Liberation Army of China had severe military drills in six regions bordering Taiwan and its territorial due to Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, reported The EurAsian Times.
Taiwan's Hualien Air Force Base is ready to send up its four heavily armed F-16s with air-launched anti-ship harpoon missiles to defend the east coast.
The Taiwanese airbase has set up preparation for ten combat missions, emphasizing air-to-air combat with close-range sidewinder and medium-range AIM-120 for beyond visual range attack.
In addition to their present loadout, the current variant Vipers have more than air-to-air missiles; to take down Chinese ships with dual Harpoon ship killer missiles. There is an ALQ-184 module on the plane for electronic warfare, with two drop tanks for increased distance.
Too many deployments can wear out the Taiwanese F-16 Viper faster with ways to determine if a Chinese sortie is actual or if the interception is needed, not antagonizing the opposing force.
Taiwanese Air Force Gears Up for Defense
Many Taiwanese Air Force personnel are confident they could do their job, which is to sink Beijing's PLA Navy if the Taipei Ministry of National Defense allows an attack. They added all efforts would be made to sink invading ships, no matter the cost.
One of the key threats to Chinese ships is the Harpoon family of a missile capable of mounting on several platforms like air, ship, and submarine-launched versions. It's an anti-ship cruise missile made in the USA that is used by its allies and friends amidst more modern ship-killers made by Russia, China, and India, as mentioned by CSIS.
Intense competition with adversaries has resulted in several development blocks to keep the missile current from becoming obsolete and useless, like better attack range and guidance.
US aircraft can use it as the P-3 Orion, A-6 Intruder, S-3 Viking, Harrier II, F/A-18 Hornet, B-52s, and the Fighting falcon. Many countries and their armies really on this weapon, especially NATO allies.
As tensions rocket around the enclave, recent pictures of a Taiwanese Navy Cheng Kung-class frigate dogging a PLA Navy Type 052C destroyer (hull number 150) occurred in the southwest waters of Kao-hsiung Harbor that, has gone viral on social media.
Reports cited by Navy Recognition say the indication occurred on August 5 at 8 pm, but the Taiwanese authorities have not given a response.
The Taiwan Air Force has been busy training how to deal with an actual incursion, not just practice by the PLA. Its Cheng Kung class are guided-missile frigates serving the Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy (ROCN, and part of the Kuang Hua I project. Based on the old US Oliver Hazard Perry class.
The Taiwanese F-16 Viper is the most up-to-date version of the Fighting Falcon with more modern avionics and capacities, although the J-16 and J-15 are Flanker clones used by the Chinese Air Force, have yet to tussle it out.
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