The military yesterday drilled with anti-amphibious landing missiles as part of a strategy to remain mobile and deadly in an attempt to deter an attack from China.
Troops fired tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided TOW 2A missiles mounted on M1167 Humvees at floating targets off a beach in Pingtung County during two days of exercises.
Taiwan’s southern tip faces both toward the Taiwan Strait and China, and toward the Pacific Ocean.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The missiles are among the most effective and popular anti-tank weapons in the world and a key component in what some experts say is the nation’s best strategy to resist a potential Chinese invasion.
China has ramped up its military threat based on its vast edge in numbers of planes, ships and missiles.
Taiwan has bought 1,700 units of the newer TOW 2B system from the US, the last of which are due to be delivered by the end of the year.
Photo: CNA
The two days of testing would also gauge the more sophisticated TOW 2B’s interoperability with the TOW 2A and its ability to acquire targets at night, the Ministry of National Defense said.
Advocates of such weaponry argue that the more mobile systems stand the best chance in an asymmetric battle against a much larger Chinese force.
China has the world’s largest standing military, but most of Taiwan is composed of steep mountains, mud flats and heavily builtup urban areas poorly suited to such a conventional force. Others have argued Taiwan needs more warplanes and surface ships.
Photo: CNA
China sends warplanes and warships near Taiwan on a near-daily basis in an attempt to intimidate the public and degrade defenses.
In response, Taiwan has extended the period of national military service to one year, is building its own submarines and importing sophisticated new equipment from the US.
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