The tabletop phase of the Han Kuang 27 series of military exercises that concluded on Friday for the first time included P-3C marine patrol aircraft in the simulation, which performed very well in detecting Chinese submarines during an attack/defense simulation.
The war games, held from Monday last week through Friday, featured National Defense University instructors as the belligerent forces and military staff headquarters as the defenders.
Military sources said the war games incorporated the P-3C aircraft, purchased from the US, in the marine-patrol games and that in the few simulated attack and defense scenarios, the P-3C proved a strong deterrent to Chinese submarines, locating enemy submarine positions before they could launch an attack.
There nevertheless were heavy losses to the defender’s surface fleet.
Taiwan procured 12 P-3C aircraft from the US for US$1.9 billion in 2007. The first aircraft was delivered to Taiwanese units training in the US last month, with the other 11 scheduled for delivery this year and next.
The Ministry of National Defense had wanted to add anti-aircraft-carrier scenarios to the war games, but retired vice admiral Lan Ning-li (蘭寧利) said that without knowing more details about the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) plans for a carrier battle group, the inclusion of such platforms would have been insignificant.
“At most, it would serve to hone the resolve of the officers during the war games,” Lan said.
As the J-20 stealth fighter has yet to be incorporated into the PLA Air Force, it also was not included in a scenario simulating the defense of Penghu and Taiwan proper.
The scenario also ruled out the possibility of a major US intervention in the conflict.
However, the military allowed the attackers to “cheat” and modify computer data to test the other side’s ability to react to unexpected situations.
Despite the limitations, military sources said that several “creative” strategies were employed and the results were to the satisfaction of Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱).
Military officials said the war games showed continual progress, with both the belligerent and the defending forces winning some and losing some, adding that the priority was to discover where the problems were and find out better solutions.
Who ultimately won and lost does not matter, officials said.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
RSS