Taiwan'🌊s military says one of the air force's F-16 fighter jets disappeared during a nighttim𒉰e training mission.
The defen💫ce min🐈istry said the single-seater plane fell off radar screens about two minutes after taking off on Tuesday evening and that the fate of the pilot was unknown.
A massive air 💞and sea search has been ordered in the area surrounding t🌟he airbase in the eastern city of Hualien along the Pacific coast.
The plane's disappearance follows the crash of an F-5E fighter♛ during a training mission l🦄ast month, killing the pilot.
The incidents come as Taiwan's air force is under greater pressure to respond to incursion💞s by warplanes from China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory to be brought under its control by force if necessary.
Taiwan purchased the F-16s from the United States, its chief ally, in the 1990s and has been upgrading its existing models along with ordering the latest ver🃏sion ofﷺ the versatile jet.
