The tabletop portion of this year’s Han Kuang military exercises are to take place over eight days, matching the previous lengthiest exercises held in 2021, a Ministry of National Defense report to the Legislative Yuan said yesterday.
Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) is scheduled to report to the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee today.
According to information provided to lawmakers ahead of the meeting, the 40th edition of the Han Kuang computerized war games to be held this year are to last eight days and seven nights.
Photo: Aaron Tu, Taipei Times
The goal of the Joint Theater Level Simulation exercises is to verify the military’s response to gray-zone tactics, procedures during each stage of operations and commanders’ operational decisionmaking, the information says.
The annual Han Kuang exercises are run in two phases, with the computerized tabletop portion informing the planning of the later live-fire exercises.
In past years, the first portion typically lasted five to eight days.
The 2021 edition was also held over eight days and seven nights, applying the “most stringent standards” to a “complex campaign.”
Last year, scenarios informed by the war in Ukraine were incorporated in simulated war games lasting five days and four nights.
In related news, jet flight training is to be extended from 9pm to past midnight, the air force headquarters said on Tuesday, as it seeks to improve pilots’ nighttime flying skills.
The first models and bases to implement the new training schedule are the Indigenous Defense Fighters in Tainan, Mirage 2000 jets in Hsinchu and F-16s in Hualien, notices sent by the air force said.
The units on Tuesday called or messaged nearby residents to inform them of the change and apologize for the inconvenience caused by the noise.
The headquarters announced the change in a statement later that evening and urged the public to continue to support the air force as it trains to safeguard the nation’s airspace.
Speaking to legislators yesterday, Veterans Affairs Council Minister Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) said that the air force used to frequently run training after midnight.
The minister said that when he was in charge of an air force unit in Tainan in 1993, the public requested that no jets take off after 9pm to avoid disrupting sleep.
However, residents have in recent years come to side with the military, understanding that the sound means the air force is engaging in important national defense tasks, Feng said.
The change comes as the Chinese military ramps up patrols near the median line of the Taiwan Strait and runs tactical drills to the nation’s southwest, day and night.
Chinese warships also frequently sail to the waters east and southeast of Taiwan proper, carrying helicopters that sometimes run drills.
Experts viewed the training enhancements positively, but urged the military to also emphasize troop management and maintenance to ensure safety.
As Chinese tactics to pressure Taiwan have diversified, so must the military’s training, said Lin Yin-yu (林穎佑), an assistant professor at Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies.
However, as training becomes more complex, it is necessary for management to consider changes to labor, materials and pilot rest time, he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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