The military has extended the computer-assisted portion of this year’s annual war games to allow for more thorough analysis of its results, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said yesterday.
Chiu made the remarks in response to questions from reporters about the extension of the computer portion of the Han Kuang exercises from five to eight days this year.
The exercises from Friday to Friday next week would be the longest since the annual games were first held in 1984.
Chiu said that the military has previously held five-day and seven-day versions of the Han Kuang exercises.
The Ministry of National Defense decided to extend this year’s war games to eight days after a review of previous exercises found that they had been conducted too hastily, leaving little time for units involved in the drills to review their actions, he said.
The decision was made before Chiu assumed office in February, he added.
The Han Kuang exercises are the nation’s largest military drills involving all branches of the armed forces.
They are held annually in two stages, a computer-assisted portion and live-fire drills.
This year’s computer war games phase is to be conducted 24 hours per day throughout the eight days, using the Joint Theater Level Simulation system.
The live-fire drills are to be held from July 12 to July 16, the ministry said.
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