The armed forces wrapped up the five-day Han Kuang military exercises yesterday, with the final series of drills designed to simulate repelling enemy attacks on the east coast and southern counties, as well as defending an airbase in central Taiwan.
The annual war games, which began on Monday, involved an unusually wide scope of operations and the largest mobilization of the nation’s army, navy and air force in the past few decades.
Military units at Greater Taichung’s Chingchuankang Airport practiced anti-airborne defense on Thursday. In simulating an enemy invasion by paratroopers, ground defense troops and anti-aircraft artillery at the airport were shown to have successfully defended the airbase by surrounding and neutralizing the enemy paratroopers with overwhelming firepower and coordinated ground maneuvers, Ministry of National Defense officials said.
Meanwhile, at Hualien County’s Beipu Beach (北埔), a drill focused on defending against an enemy amphibious landing assault. The coastal defense drill was carried out by a mechanized infantry battalion, which was shown capable of neutralizing the enemy troops, officials said.
At the Tri-Service Joint Combat Training Base in Pingtung County, troops carried out an “integrated air-ground combat operation” to repel a simulated attack in southern Taiwan. The live-fire drill saw the engagement of enemy troops by a tank squadron, long-range artillery, F-16 jets, AH-1W attack helicopters and OH armed reconnaissance helicopters.
After drills concluded, top military officials lauded the efforts and praised soldiers for executing their tasks successfully.
“We see all the officers and troops followed their commands and performed their jobs well in simulated combat situations. The success has set a new standard for our reserves and active-duty combat units,” said Major General Tsai Chung-cheng (蔡忠誠), who heads the Southern Reserve Command.
However, critics said the war games were only simulations, with set goals and controlled criteria.
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