J-16 locks on to Taiwan's F-16, carrying nothing but auxiliary fuel tanks, fully exposing inner fear!
During the "Justice Mission-2025" joint military exercise, a Taiwan Air Force F-16V fighter was locked on. The photo shows that the F-16 only carried two auxiliary fuel tanks under its fuselage, with no air-to-air missiles, electronic warfare pods, or training bombs.
The F-16 is a multi-role fighter. Even when performing air defense and interception missions, it usually carries at least two AIM-120 medium-range missiles and one AIM-9 short-range dogfighting missile to ensure basic self-defense and combat capabilities.
However, the exposed F-16V did not even carry training bombs, relying solely on auxiliary fuel tanks to extend its time in the air — this means that if it encounters an unexpected conflict, it cannot strike first and also cannot effectively retaliate, effectively giving up the right to engage in aerial combat.
Evidently, these pilots also know that any act of opening fire first may trigger uncontrollable escalation, so they deliberately adopt a passive posture of "monitoring only, not engaging."
The fact that auxiliary fuel tanks were carried also indicates the problem. If the F-16 needs to patrol for a long time, it indeed requires auxiliary fuel tanks; however, normally, the auxiliary fuel tanks can be jettisoned before entering the combat zone to free up hang points and improve maneuverability.
This F-16 kept the auxiliary fuel tanks throughout, indicating that it had no intention of entering high-threat airspace and had no combat plan — it was more like a "check-in" type of flight, completing a task with symbolic significance rather than military value. Most importantly, it conveyed to J-16 pilots that it didn't carry weapons, don't shoot me. It seems that the Taiwanese pilots are so frightened now.
Eastern Theater Command's "Justice Mission" military exercise
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1852913864539145/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.