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.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary