The military held war games to drill its paratrooper and airborne defense units at an airbase in Greater Taichung yesterday as part of this year’s five-day Han Kuang series of exercises.
The 50-minute drill, which started at 7:30am at the Ching Chuan Kang Airbase, resembled a scrimmage, albeit with heavy weaponry and military expertise.
Planners divided a total of 2,596 soldiers into two teams of attackers and defenders.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
The attack group launched two Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft to clear the ground. Then, an onslaught of paratroopers, including 206 elite airborne soldiers, jumped out of transport aircraft to take the territory.
At the same time, ground defenders used the weapons at their disposal to repel the invaders. They deployed AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters, OH-58D scout and attack helicopters, and physical barriers to block the advances by the paratroopers. In addition, the defenders also released smoke to disorient the airborne troops during their landing.
This drill marked the first Han Kuang exercise in which female soldiers — eight in all — took part in a simulated parachute offensive, the Ministry of National Defense said.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
The drill came two days after the military staged another simulation to practice emergency landings and takeoffs on a section of freeway in Greater Tainan, which acts as a runway of last resort if airbases have already been taken out by enemy bombers.
Meanwhile, in other Han Kuang-related action, more than 3,000 troops engaged in an amphibious landing drill in Pingtung County.
At 7am, a fleet of amphibious gunboats approached the coast of Pingtung County and waited for marine specialists to launch bombs that would clear any mines from the waters. Their cargo included marines, M60A3 tanks and other armored vehicles.
When the coast was clear, troops started assaulting the beachhead from their amphibious transports and assault vehicles. At the same time, jet fighters and attack helicopters were also deployed to facilitate the landing operation.
During the offensive, one jeep was seen stuck on the beach and was later rescued by an armored vehicle, a scene that many spectators had thought was a mishap.
When the jeep was pulled onshore, however, the military broadcast said the beach “rescue” operation was “conducted successfully.”
The disabled jeep was reportedly part of the drill.
Chang Shou-ling (張壽齡), a senior official in the Marine Corps, said the rescue challenge was included to simulate a common glitch in these operations — that any landing vehicle could get stuck owing to conditions on the ground.
This year’s Han Kuang military exercises began on Monday and end today.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS