ASIATODAY.ID, TAIPEI — Tensions across the Taiwan Strait have escalated sharply after Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense released footage showing ROCAF F-16V Block 20 fighter jets successfully locking radar on China’s Shenyang J-16 aircraft during Beijing’s large-scale military drills dubbed Justice Mission 2025.
The video, published on Monday, December 30, 2025, captures Taiwanese Air Force jets and Navy vessels closely tracking Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and warships maneuvering around the island. Without issuing verbal threats, Taipei delivered a clear visual message: Taiwan is watching—and capable of striking without warning.
Just hours after Beijing announced the start of its joint military exercises—featuring live-fire drills and simulations to control key ports and maritime routes—Taiwan’s defense ministry released the short but carefully crafted video titled “Resilient Taiwan, Unyielding Defense.”
The footage shows Taiwan’s F-16V fighters using the AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod to track and lock onto PLA J-16 jets, while the Taiwanese Navy’s Cheng Kung–class frigate Tian Dan monitors a PLA Navy Type 054A frigate, Anyang.
The move was a direct response to China’s Justice Mission 2025 joint military drills, widely seen as a show of force aimed at intimidating Taipei. Previously released images from the PLA’s Joint Sword–2024A exercises had already demonstrated that Taiwan’s F-16Vs can maintain targeting locks even while performing high-intensity aerial maneuvers.
“The message is unmistakable,” Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) noted. Taiwan is not merely defending—it is demonstrating real-time combat readiness across air and sea domains.
The release comes amid growing international concern that China’s military drills around Taiwan are no longer routine exercises, but a rehearsal testing the threshold for a potential open conflict in one of the world’s most strategically sensitive flashpoints. (AT Network)
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