Taiwan Air Force kicks off annual Sky Dragon drills

Taipei, Nov. 4 (CNA) Taiwan's Air Force began its annual Tien Lung, or "Sky Dragon" drills Monday, following their postponement last week due to Typhoon Kong-rey.

The drills, which aim at testing pilots' air-to-air, air-to-sea, and air-to-ground combat skills in the main fighters in the Air Force's fleet -- F-16Vs, Mirage 2000-5s and Indigenous Defense Fighters -- will run through Friday, a military source previously told CNA.

In a social media post Monday, the Air Force said the first day of the exercises would focus on aerial interceptions and the use of its aerial gunnery target system, or AGTS.

Specifically, the drill will simulate pilots scrambling their aircraft on short notice, identifying and firing missiles at targets, and conducting mock "dogfights" with enemy aircraft, the Air Force said.

Other portions of the five-day drills will include dropping 25 lb. practice bombs, launching infrared homing missiles, quickly outfitting aircraft with munitions, and holding a shooting competition for Republic of China (Taiwan's official name) military police, the Air Force said.