The tabletop war games phase of the annual Han Kuang military exercises starts today, focusing on a potential Chinese invasion based on the latest threats posed by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
As in previous years, this year’s exercises are to be held in two stages.
The tabletop war games are to be held through Friday and live-fire exercises are scheduled for July 24 to 28, said Major General Lin Wen-huang (林文皇), who is in charge of planning at the Ministry of National Defense.
Photo courtesy of the Military News Agency
He said that the tabletop war games would be conducted using the US-built Joint Theater Level Simulation platform to replicate joint, combined and coalition civil-military operations at an operational level.
The computerized simulations would run around the clock for five days in a row to test the ability of military personnel to coordinate and launch a response to a Chinese invasion, he said.
A number of potential invasion scenarios would be run based on the latest military threats posed by the PLA, which has recently sent warplanes and warships to surround Taiwan, Lin said.
Whether the “invaders” or “defenders” ultimately win the simulations is not as important as what Taiwan’s armed forces can learn from the war games, because it is a training session, he said.
Deputy Chief of General Staff for Training Lieutenant General Chang Chun-chih (張俊志) said on April 26 that the war games would test the military’s responses to all kinds of potential invasion scenarios.
At the end of the five days, the ministry would conduct a thorough review to determine whether there are ways to improve response measures, he said.
The Han Kuang exercises have been held annually since 1984. This year will mark the 39th edition of the annual exercises, which are Taiwan’s most important military drills and include all branches of the armed forces.
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