The military’s counterterrorism squad, known as the “Night Hawk” (夜鷹特勤隊) unit, received top billing in a new publicity video commissioned by the Ministry of National Defense, which was released yesterday.
In an action-packed video, the Night Hawk unit is called to deal with an emergency when a gang of armed criminals take passengers on a 747 civilian jet airliner hostage on an airport runway.
While storming the plane, the crack unit display their skills with coordinated maneuvers, quick and decisive moves, and expert marksmanship to save the passengers’ lives.
The new release was one of a three-part video series for the ministry directed by filmmaker Hung Cheng-chang (洪成昌), who directed last year’s military promotional videos featuring troops doing their daily duties to safeguard the nation and its citizens around the clock.
Real soldiers from the Night Hawk unit, officially known as MPSSC (Military Police Special Services Company), play themselves in the video, and the scene was shot on site at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Hung said.
“Each of the three new videos are about 90 seconds long. I wanted to produce them in the style of a trailer for an action movie, about what happens when a group of terrorists hijack a civilian airplane. We showed how the Night Hawk unit — the nation’s special counterterrorism and hostage-rescue unit — can carry out their job to protect our citizens from such dangers,” he said.
In the video, the commando operation also involves the unit’s snipers, who are stationed at airport facilities, and at critical moments shoot and kill the criminals from some distance away to neutralize the threat and defuse the crisis.
Hung said he wanted to show military troops in a positive light because they rarely get the credit they deserve, and that he tried hard to incorporate fresh ideas and new elements into the videos.
“I wanted to have the Night Hawk unit in an actual operation scenario and doing their job. My notion is to present their combat skills and their professionalism, because these sides are seldom shown to the general public,” he said.
The other two new videos will be released for public viewing in the coming weeks, with the next video focusing on all branches of the armed forces in action during live-fire military drills, while the third one will involve special operations units undertaking a stealth assault operation to blow up a radar station inside enemy territory.
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