This year’s Han Kuang exercises are to be extended to 14 days and include responses to “gray zone” tactics and deep defense operations, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said today.
The Huang Kuang drills are an annual exercise for the armed forces to demonstrate their capabilities in repelling an invasion.
“Gray zone” tactics are actions that fall shy of armed conflict, but remain a threat to Taiwan, such as China’s incursions into territorial waters and airspace, live-fire exercises around the nation and cutting undersea telecom cables.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
In addition to extending this year’s drills to 14 days, the live-fire exercise portion in July is to be extended to 10 days to enhance the armed forces’ ability to execute joint combat operations, Koo said.
The drills would also see computer wargames, live-fire missile drills, brigade-level tactical confrontations and firepower assessments, Koo added.
The drills would also feature an “artificial intelligence anchor” to carry out communications in 18 languages, an upgraded version of a system used last year, Koo said.
To respond to the increasing threat from the Chinese Communist Party, the exercises would also see brigade-level mobilizations for the first time, said Lee Ting-chung (李定中), head of the All-out Defense Mobilization Agency.
During the exercise, all reservists would receive mobilization orders through their local office, allowing for data collection and system optimization, Lee said.
Enhancing reservists’ combat ability is one of the military’s major priorities, Koo said.
The goal this year is to verify operational timelines and post-mobilization combat readiness, he said, adding that future exercises would expand on this aspect.
Apart from the Han Kuang drills, this year would also see five new joint combat exercises to strengthen the nation’s integrated combat capabilities, Koo said.
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