The military yesterday held live-fire exercises involving precision weapons in Pingtung County to test troops’ capabilities to counter potential amphibious and sea attacks by China.
The “Sky Horse” exercises were open to the media and involved troops from the army’s 542nd, 564th, 269th and 234th brigades, Hualien Defense Command, Army Infantry Training Command and the 99th Marine Brigade.
During the drills, soldiers fired TOW 2A anti-tank missiles at targets in the sea from a coastal drill area in Fangshan Township (枋山).
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Major Huang Chieh-hung (黃介宏), an instructor from the Army Infantry Training Command who was in charge of the drill, said the soldiers used sighting devices to boost the missiles’ accuracy, adding that about 70 percent of the projectiles hit their designated targets at sea.
The major difference between this year’s Sky Horse exercise and previous ones is that TOW 2B anti-tank missiles were fired from vehicles instead of from the ground, he said.
Firing missiles from a vehicle increases mobility and helps soldiers defend against enemy attacks by engaging effectively at an early stage, Huang added.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
Taiwan has purchased 1,240 TOW 2B anti-tank missiles, 24 Humvee armored vehicles upon which the missiles would be mounted and 30 targeting systems from the US, the Ministry of National Defense has said.
The weapons are to be delivered by 2025, the ministry said.
The military also held a live-fire exercise involving helicopters and Thunderbolt-2000 rocket systems at a separate drill ground in Pingtung.
Today, the armed forces are to hold live-fire exercises that would involve Avenger air-defense systems and Stinger surface-to-air missiles.
The drills come against the backdrop of aerial and naval maneuvers by China in and around the Taiwan Strait.
Last month, eight Chinese warplanes approached Taiwan’s contiguous zone — or the band of sea within 24 nautical miles (44km) of its coast.
In May, China’s Shandong aircraft carrier group sailed through the Taiwan Strait in a rare voyage.
Additional reporting by AFP
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
Democratic Progressive Party caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu, front, grabs the pennant in a dragon boat race hosted by Qu Yuan Temple in the Shuanghsi River in Taipei’s Beitou District yesterday.