Beijing, Aug 15 (EFE).- The Taiwanese Air Force apologized today for the incidents that occurred during training sessions in which it launched bombs and missiles that missed their targets and caused damage and inconvenience to the Coast Guard and other military units. .
The chief of the Air Force General Staff, General Tsao Chin-ping, acknowledged Tuesday that on August 9 an F-16V plane dropped a 907-kilogram MK-84 bomb that fell into the sea near the military base. Jioupeng, in Pingtung (south), and caused a shock wave that affected a Coast Guard ship, the CNA news agency reported.
Although there were no casualties, several members of the Coast Guard complained on social networks that they had to receive medical attention due to the blast wave.
Tsao stated that the Air Force has apologized to the Coast Guard and will sanction the pilot and his instructor for failing to properly supervise the exercise.
He also confirmed that another incident took place at the same Jioupeng base today, when a US-made MIM-104F Patriot missile exploded before reaching the target during an exercise.
The general explained that the Air Force and the Chung Shan National Institute of Science and Technology, the most important military research unit on the island, are investigating the causes of the explosion.
According to local media, it was the first time that a US-bought Patriot missile exploded on its own before reaching its target during firing tests that are conducted in Taiwan every two years.
These types of accidents have been frequent in recent years as part of the different maneuvers and exercises carried out by the island’s defense forces.
Last October, four Taiwanese Army servicemen were injured after accidentally firing a portable anti-tank weapon during live-fire tests.
In June last year, a Taiwanese military multiple launch rocket system exploded during a live-fire combat drill in the southeast of the island, leaving no people dead or injured.
Since 2020, according to CNA, there have been seven accidents involving planes and helicopters of the island’s air force, which caused the death of thirteen soldiers, the last of them on May 31. EFE
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