MNA

(Reporter Wu Tung-Sheng of Military News Agency, 29th Taipei) The first mass-produced Brave Eagle advanced jet trainer flew across the Central Mountain Range to Taitung Zhi-Hang Air Base today and completed the handover and signing ceremony. Air Force Command posted on Facebook: "Inheritance from Generation to Generation, Brave Eagle Turn-over in Flight." In the post it says that the Brave Eagle advanced jet trainer took off from Ching-Chuan-Kang Air Force Base in Taichung in the morning, smoothly crossed the Central Mountain Range and touched down perfectly at Zhi-Hang Air Base in Taitung at 10:35. As noted from the post, after the Brave Eagle advanced jet trainer landed, Zhi-Hang Air Base and the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology held a handover and signing ceremony. All people from all walks of life witnessed, the ceremony marked a historic moment for the Air Force of the Republic of China, and it is hoped that when the Brave Eagle advanced jet trainer joins the rank of the Air Force to cultivate pilots for combat eaglets, it can help nurture better pilots for the country.

(Reporter Cho Yi-li of Military News Agency, 18th Chiayi) Air Force Command held the "F-16V BLK20 Performance Improvement and Installation Ceremony" at Chiayi Base on the 18th. Lieutenant Colonel Lin Suan-chi, the 8th F-16 pilot for the single-plane performance demonstration (Solo Demo), made use of superb technology to control the fighter, demonstrating the outstanding characteristics of the fighter. The Lieutenant Colonel drove the 6635 fighter, and displayed its short-field take-off performance on the runway with "maximum thrust." Right after the "Cuban 8", he resorted to the F-16's powerful thrust-to-weight ratio and completed two consecutive tumbles, showing excellent fighting capability as it engages during air combat. Lieutenant Colonel Lin’s helmet is conceptually designed with a newly installed Viper, which also symbolizes that the F-16 will become more aggressive after structural reform. Its black background reflects calmness and introversion. On the left, there is a fierce viper, with four-star and three-color arrows in the middle representing the concept of the 4th Wing and three combat units. It shows the pilot as a representative of the wing. On the right side of the helmet, a F-16 rushes out, showing its flexible and rapid maneuverability, while the 8th is adopted to indicate that this helmet is owned by the 8th pilot for the solo demo.

(Reporter Cho Yi-li of Military News Agency, 9th Taichung) The "Combat Readiness Task Training" drill of Q4 by the 5th combat zone of the Armed Forces was carried out early this morning. During the drill, tactical maneuvers were carried out as armored artillery vehicles like M60A3 tanks, M110A2 self-propelled gun vehicles, CM32, and CM33 eight-wheeled armored vehicles, etc. from the Armored 586th Brigade and Artillery 58th Command moved into tactical position when ordered, demonstrating the strength and resilience of the troops and their training. Combat readiness drills for the 5th combat zone of the Armed Forces are adopted to simulate battle scenarios and verify the training of cadre commands and daily combat skills of servicemen to help improve the response and combat capabilities of troops on the battlefield. Troops are also required to conduct strict risk control, strive in pre-duty education, put safety as a top priority, and firmly build the overall combat strength of troops during their training.

(Reporter Ge Peng-xin of Military News Agency, 3rd Pingtung)The Joint Operations Training Base today carried out the "Lany-en No. 110-7 Exercise" in which live shell tests by the brigade were conducted. The Artillery Battalion of the 234th Brigade was responsible for firepower support so it can assist the main offensive troops in creating a favorable situation. In this exercise, 155 howitzers and 120 mortars were first implemented for firing inspections. The firing command post then calculated the azimuth and angle, so that shells could accurately hit the target area and thus effectively display the combat power of artillery. During the course, servicemen had respectively accepted different scenarios according to the instructions as they operated artillery weapons with proficient action. They also worked in conjunction with the shooting orders issued by the controller to accurately hit the target area and successfully complete the mission.

(Reporter Li Chung-hsuan of Military News Agency, 10th Taipei) The "Great League of Democracy, Friends from the World" celebrates the National Day of the Republic of China for the year 2021. The event and celebration today was hosted by the Chair of Legislative Yuan, Yu Shyi-kun. President Tsai Ing-wen led the heads of various ministries and committees to attend as well. In addition, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) worked with the National Day Preparatory and Planning Committee to support three-stage performance tasks – the "Prelude of Warm-up", "National Day Convention" , and "Theme-based Performances." It was expected that representatives of the servicemen as well as various kinds of weapons and equipment will be part of the demonstration, showing the determination of the Armed Forces to defend Taiwan, safeguard the homeland, and do its undeniable part. The prologue warm-up performance was first performed by the joint band of the Armed Forces and Honor Guard of the Republic of China. In the first half, the band played two songs, "Glory March" and "No Hesitation on the Pandemic", which were performed by the Honor Guard in three types of formations - “Soaring To Fly High”, "Solidarity", and "Unity of Wills." During the intermission, the demonstration bands and percussionists from the Army, Navy, and Air Force were arranged to form a marching drum team . In the second half, the band played three songs, "Fly against the Wind" by the famous singer Hsiao Huang-chi, “Clap Song” from the end song of a documentary by Chi Po-lin, and “Dare to be stupid and crush” by the Taiwanese band "Eggplant Egg” . The Honor Guard performed "Forward to the Future", "Charge", "Services in Oneness" and "Victory Double Ten" and other formations to show the determination of the Armed Forces to embrace challenges and achieve its mission. The after-party invited six representatives from the police, fire-fighting, medical, and sport worlds to sing the national anthem with the National Taiwan Hakka Children's Choir. While singing the national anthem, two Army CH-47 transport helicopters, under the escort of -64E and AH-1W attack helicopters, heralded forward and hung two of the largest national flags in history into the arena. With these huge national flags flying in the sky, the celebration was further enhanced and symbolized the far-reaching significance of Taiwan in solidarity and confidence moving forward. The grand finale of the National Day Ceremony saw the Air Force Thunder Tiger, flying with a AT-3 trainer, having adopted a five-plane geese formation and flew from the back of the Presidential Palace, passing over the reviewing stand. With the neat formation, the sound of engines shocked the audience, but they were soon in awe of the tri-color smoke of blue, white, and red which drew a conclusion to the National Day Celebration of the Republic of China for the year 2021. The organizers of the event would like to wish the prosperous national fortune of the Republic of China so that all people can live and work in peace and harmony.

(Reporter Chou Li-xing of Military News Agency, 5th Chiayi)The Armed Forces conducted a second rehearsal of its full air-force demonstration on the morning of the 5th for the National Day. During the drill, the autogyro fleet, made up of aircraft from Army AH-64E, AH-1W, UH-60M helicopters and Navy S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, flew in arrangements of three-plane formations and passed over the Presidential Palace in perfect timing, demonstrating solid training results.

(Reporter Tsai Fang-Yuan of Military News Agency, 20th Taipei) The French PX3 International Photography Competition 2021 (Prix de la Photographie Paris) has recently announced the winners of various categories of awards. Captain Huang Shao-en, press officer of the Military News Agency, was awarded the gold prize in the Journalist Category for his work "Behind the Flight". Major Liu Cheng-jun, press officer of the Youth Daily, was awarded the silver prize for his work "Push The Limit". Major Huang Jun-yong received two awards: bronze prize and an honorary nomination, and Captain Hsieh Pei-chen was also presented with the special bronze price for the "Chemical Soldiers" work piece. All these awards not only demonstrate the outstanding strength of the professional team in political warfare, but also helped display the images of the ROC Armed Forces with well-drilled training as well as their determination in homeland security efforts, bringing the Armed Forces of the ROC once again into the international arena. In recent years, the Military News Agency has repeatedly achieved outstanding results in international photography competitions. Subsequent to the military academy graduation song created by colleagues from the Military News Agency that won the grand award in the London International Creative Competition in April this year, Huang Shao-en, the press officer, has again won the gold prize in the French PX3 International Photo Contest. This is a significant achievement for news units of the Armed Forces. "Drill-master, you are simply awesome!" Huang Shao-en said, as the entry for the competition was taken as he interviewed the pilot. After the interview, he shared this unique perspective of the pilot, who was smiling from ear to ear. Huang Shao-en said the ordinary "360-degree inspection" in the eyes of pilots is normal, yet it can have unexpectedly results as shown through the rare composition of the lens. This has triggered Huang Shao-en to contribute his work. He believes that the daily drills and tasks by officers and soldiers of the Armed Forces might seem ordinary, but they in fact quite extraordinary. These servicemen have actually never realized that the subtleties of their tasks can be so special and meaningful. Most of all, they have become accustomed to these routines so they don't think of them as significant anymore. Huang Sha-oen pointed out that the worked titled "Behind the Flight" not only addresses the perspective of filming from the rear, but also that everyone has strived so hard in unity and teamwork behind every successful flight mission. Military News Agency stated that it will continue to work hard to create high-quality work in the future and present wonderful pictures of the diligent and well-drilled training by servicemen of the Armed Forces through social community platforms. Netizens are welcome to visit IG, Twitter, YouTube and other platforms of the Military News Agency as they show their support for our officers and soldiers.

(Reporter Lin Ze-Ting of Military News Agency, 15th Pingtung) Air Force Command conducted the fighter take-off and landing as well as reorganization and fill-up exercises on Provincial Highway No. 1 of the Jiadong combat runway today. As the Joint Operations Center of the Ministry of National Defense (MND) issued the coordinated combat and support order, all of the related authorities of the 4th Joint Combat Battalion worked closely with the Ministry of the Interior (MOI), the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), the Directorate General of Highways, the National Police Agency and others to successfully furnish the reorganization and fill-up operations for four different types aircraft, demonstrating the effectiveness of joint operations. Early in the morning the sound of fighter engines pierced the silence of the sky. Then, as many as four aircraft from the Air Force – IDF, F-16V, Mirage 2000, and E-2K – took off from different bases, and quickly landed on the Jiadong combat runway. With assistance from the ground crew, they quickly took off after having completed fuel replenishment operations, and continued with the exercise, demonstrating the precise combat capabilities of flight troops of the Air Force. On the third day of the Han Kuang No. 37 war game, take-off and landing exercises were carried out on the Jiadong combat runway. Before the exercise, from as early as 03.00, officers and soldiers of the Air Force removed foreign objects from the combat runway to ensure the exercise could be completed without interference. Air Force Command stressed that this exercise has fully demonstrated the unity between the military and civilians, and has brought into play the mobilization power of national defense. As such, it hopes the public renders its appreciation for the well-drilled training of the Armed Forces as well as the determination of self-defense through the strategic communication mechanism, consolidating the consensus of national defense as "concern by all nationals, support by all nationals, and participation by all nationals." The success of the live military exercise of jet fighters taking-off and landing on the combat runway is just one example of this effort. The Air Force has stated it is thankful for the understanding and support of the public while it closed off roads for the defense drill.

(Reporter Huang Shao-en of Military News Agency, 7th Hsinchu)To assess the training conducted at the army base, the Army North Joint Test Center today organized tactical instructors to conduct end-of-term combat strength assessments for Lanyang Regional Command and other training units. This morning the unit carried out "re-counterattack" combat shooting inspections at the 105 shooting range. The whole process was guided by a scenario, and when the main officer of the tank company received his command from the battalion commander, the order to attack was issued. M60A3 tanks marched to the counterattack position according to orders so they could give full play to effective command, team understanding, and familiar operation of weapons and equipment to accurately strike at the targets. The maneuver demonstrated high levels of mobility and shooting technology as well as solid combat power and high hitting rates. The North Test Center stated the combat power appraisal and testing method with "real troops, live ammunition, and real vehicles" is used to conduct training so it can verify the command procedures of cadres, strengthen the handling capabilities of officers and soldiers on the battlefield, and enhance actual combat capabilities and energy. Most of all, these drills will render the troops combat-ready and the joint training base of the Armed Forces is fully prepared.

(Reporter Chen Jiun-Jiun of Military News Agency, 1st Taichung)As Armored 586 Brigade carried out its combat readiness and reconnaissance training, today is the second day the brigade will work on the training subjects. The eight-wheeled armored vehicles of the joint battalion marched into tactical position according to the maneuvering route, and cooperated live on the scene to conduct the exercise to help officers and soldiers familiarize themselves with actual battlefield situations, thus strengthening their training. Lieutenant Chen, the company commander who has participated in combat readiness, reconnaissance and patrol missions, said that this exercise was his first major mission since he took over the post as company commander. Therefore, it is necessary for him to rely on the officers and soldiers of each position to perform their duties and work well with each other. Most of all, it takes communication, logistics, administration and other support throughout the mission for successful completion. Sergeant James, who served as the driver of the armored vehicle, emphasized that there are far more emergencies one must pay paid attention to than in the camp during tactical maneuvers so he mostly focuses on those. He also stressed that it is an honor to be able to participate in such tasks and to be a member of the 586 Brigade so he will work tirelessly to protect our homeland.