Military Prepares Farewell Ceremony for Faithful RF-5E Fighters

TaiwanPlus News

Taiwan’s military is getting ready to retire its fleet of F-5 fighter jets after decades of service and is making preparations ahead of a farewell ceremony on Friday.

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00:00Taiwan's Air Force is letting the media get a sneak peek on what it takes to make

00:07sure the country can defend its airspace. And that starts with making sure it can

00:11rearm and refuel its jets as efficiently as possible. Ground crews are trained to

00:15arm these fighters and carry out safety checks in under 30 minutes. But while the

00:20teams are fast, the RF-5E, also known as the F-5, can no longer keep up with the

00:26demands of modern service, and will soon be retired. Taiwan regularly scrambles its

00:41fighter jets to respond to growing Chinese military activity near the country. But

00:46its pilots are increasingly flying modern aircraft like the F-16. One pilot here was

00:53nostalgic, looking back on his time in the F-5's cockpit.

00:57My first time flying F-5 is in Taitung Air Base. And it's very excited. I feel very

01:07sad. And thanks to the company with me for so long. And so that I can always be safe.

01:18Are you going to cry in the ceremony tomorrow? Maybe, I think. Despite the upcoming farewell

01:25ceremony on Friday, it's business as usual here in Hualien. Ground crews have been

01:30operating the F-5 for more than 50 years. And so a lot of the maintenance that you saw

01:34happens every day. But what makes this moment special is it's one of the last

01:38sessions of maintenance before the F-5 takes to the skies for the last time.

01:41Ryan Wu and Jaime Okon in Hualien for Taiwan Plus.

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