Taiwan Air Force Chief of Staff Cao Jinping confirmed that a US-made Patriot air defense missile exploded prematurely in the air on Tuesday during an exercise in the south of the island.
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Cao Jinping confirmed that an American MIM-104F Patriot SAM missile exploded prematurely in the air during the exercise. According to him, the island’s air force and specialists from the Zhongshan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) are still studying the details of what happened to determine the cause of the explosion.
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This was the first time that a Patriot SAM missile, bought by Taiwan from the United States, exploded on its own before hitting its intended target during tests conducted in Taiwan every two years.
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It was previously reported that military enthusiasts on Tuesday watched what they called a test launch of two US-made Patriot missiles from the Jupeng military base of the Zhongshan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) in Manzhou City, Pingtung County, southern Taiwan. At the same time, the Liberty Times newspaper reported that the first of the launched missiles exploded in the air, and the launch of the second was successful.
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This is the second incident in a month at the Jiupeng base: for example, on August 3, four people were injured as a result of a fire at a military base, where, in particular, they test missile weapons.