Sun, Mar 17, 2024 page1

• Navy drills to end with full evaluation

  EVOLVING: The navy is reportedly planning a third mobile Hai Feng land-based anti-ship missile squadron and the introduction of new weapons, such as extended-range missiles

  • By Lo Tien-pin and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  The navy is next week to conduct a series of service-wide evaluations on tactics and gunnery before concluding the annual Ching Shih training exercises (精實訓練操演), sources said.

  The evaluations would feature live-fire exercises with 76mm and 5-inch naval guns and simulated engagements and sorties against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), they said.

  All six of the navy’s surface warship fleets and one submarine fleet are to take part in the Ching Shih exercises, while live-fire torpedo and missile drills would be conducted later this year, the source said.

  

  The crew of a fast-combat support ship, left, and a Keelung-class guided missile destroyer, right, conduct replenishment operations in an undated photograph taken during last year’s Ching Shih naval exercises.

  Photo courtesy of the Navy Command

  The navy over the past few weeks has been conducting mock battles involving pure or mixed-fleet task forces consisting of three or four ships as part of the exercises, and next week’s activities would be the final phase, they said.

  Vice Chief of the General Staff Vice Admiral Chiang Cheng-kuo (蔣正國) on Friday toured several naval facilities in Kaohsiung to inspect the exercises, the state-run Military News Agency said in a report.

  He thanked service members involved in the drill, and emphasized to commanders the importance of being aware of the condition of personnel and equipment to ensure safety, the report said.

  Officers of all ranks must be thoroughly familiar with the weapons systems and equipment on their ship, plan comprehensively to deal with any eventuality and test their plans during drills, he said.

  In related news, the navy is expected to form a third mobile Hai Feng land-based anti-ship missile squadron by the end of the year, a separate source familiar with the matter said.

  The mobile squadrons — which are equipped with Hsiung Feng II and Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missiles — and their launcher vehicles would be renamed Hai Feng Strike Groups and placed under the control of the planned Coastal Defense Operations Command, the source said, asking to remain anonymous.

  The first mobile missile squadron is currently responsible for northern and central regions of Taiwan proper, as well as the nation’s outlying islands, while the second squadron is in charge of the southern and eastern regions, they said.

  After the creation of a third mobile squadron, the nation’s coastal defenses would be reorganized under one of two proposed schemes: the north-central-southern plan or the south-north-eastern plan, the source said.

  The first and second Hai Feng mobile squadrons are already highly involved in countering the threat posed by PLAN vessels conducting military exercises around Taiwan, resulting in added maintenance requirements, they said.

  The navy has made arrangements with the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology to maintain and repair the Hsiung Feng missile vehicles, they said.

  Coastal defense anti-ship units would be armed with new weapons as they come online, including 100 vehicle-mounted Harpoon missile launchers and extended-range Hsiung Feng III missiles, some of which have reportedly entered into service in small numbers, they said.
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