The computer-aided war-games portion of the annual Han Kuang military exercises will be held next month and the drill will focus on a simulation of a battle group of the Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, attacking Taiwan’s east coast, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
Major General Mei Chia-shu (梅家樹), vice director of the ministry’s Operations and Planning Division, told a press conference that the computer-aided war games are to take place from May 19 to 23 to examine the military’s joint homeland defense capability.
The war games will simulate a Chinese force launching full-scale warfare against the nation, with its Liaoning aircraft carrier battle group moving to waters east of Taiwan and attacking the nation from the sea, the ministry said.
The nation’s new weapon systems, including AH-64 Apache helicopters, Thunderbolt-2000 multiple launch rocket systems and P-3C anti-submarine warfare patrol aircraft, will join the computer-aided drill, the ministry added.
Mei said the goal of the computer-aided war games is to practice difficult joint arms warfare scenarios and strengthen the military’s joint warfare capability.
The scenarios and result of the war games are to serve as a reference for live-fire exercises scheduled to take place in September.
Meanwhile, Pai Chieh-lung (白捷隆), a human resources official at the ministry, said the ministry’s recruitment plan this year has gone well and the recruitment target has been met.
He said the ministry planned to recruit 5,920 personnel, but as of Sunday 8,634 people have already signed up to become volunteer soldiers.
The government has been offering incentives for young people to pursue a military career. On Jan. 1, the government raised monthly allowances for volunteer soldiers and non-commissioned officers by between NT$2,000 and NT$4,000.
Taiwan plans to shift to an all-volunteer force by 2017. It originally planned for the transition to be completed by next year, but pushed the date back due to lower-than-expected recruitment numbers.
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