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Military left red-faced by mishaps during exercise

Taiwan's military was left red-faced after problems with missiles afflicted an exercise in Suao Township (蘇澳), Ilan County, yesterday.

The exercise, part of the Han Kuang 23 annual exercise, involved 2,163 military personnel, and took place on the coast at the Navy's Suao Base.

It simulated a scenario where Chinese forces had crossed the Taiwan Strait and were ready to land.

The Air Force, the Navy, the Army and the Marines established a defense network in Ilan to repulse the invaders from the sea, land and air.

The exercise commenced when the Perry-class frigate PFG-1105 launched a Standard Missile I Block I.

The commander of yesterday's exercise reported through speakers that the missile had destroyed a target plane 35km away from the vessel.

Weather conditions were foggy yesterday, leaving spectators unable to see the frigate clearly.

The Navy rarely launches the Standard Missile I Block I during exercises due to its high cost. The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said one Standard Missile I Block I costs US$1.13 million.

Immediately after the launch of the missile, the Army launched two HAWK missiles.

One of them hit a target plane but the other lost control and landed in a cemetery. The missile was damaged but did not detonate and Army personnel retrieved the failed ordnance.

After the HAWK missiles, the Kidd-class destroyer DDG-1802 launched a Standard Missile II Block I and two Mirage-2000-5s launched Arcane air-to-air missiles. Both the destroyer and the jetfighters destroyed their target planes.

However, when two IDF aircraft approached in order to launch AIM-9 missiles, the pilots were forced to abort their mission because the target plane was missing.

Next, two AH-1W helicopters approached and launched Hellfire missiles and AIM-9 missiles, hovering above where visitors were viewing the exercise as they launched.

After that, the Marines launched two MGM-51 Shillelagh missiles, one of which hit its target, but failed to destroy, it while the other one lost control and fell into the sea.

The Army then launched two Revenger missiles and two FIM-92 Stinger missiles. One Revenger and one Stinger hit their targets but also failed to destroy them. The other Revenger fell into the sea and the other Stinger disappeared after its launch.

The Army's Sixth Legion Commander, Lieutenant General Cheng Shih-yu (程士瑜), expressed frustration over the missile failures during yesterday's exercise.

"Honestly, I do not know what went wrong," he said. "Maybe these missiles are too old."

A parachute drill is scheduled for the Army's Hukou Base today.
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