For 40 years, the annual Han Kuang exercises have tested the military’s combat readiness in the face of a possible Chinese invasion.
The military drills usually feature large-scale live-fire demonstrations, with the president and top generals watching over the highly-publicized missile launches and anti-amphibious landing exercises.
Extensive media coverage of the drills is ostensibly to keep the public informed about the latest developments in the armed forces and to reassure them that the troops are capable of defending the nation.
Photo courtesy of Military News Agency
The Han Kuang drills have long been criticized for being little more than a photo-op that has limited practical impact on defense preparedness, but this year major changes are expected — prompted by President William Lai’s (賴清德) appointment of a new minister of defense who has a bold new vision for the Han Kuang exercises.
Wellington Koo (顧立雄), the first defense minister since 2013 who is neither an active nor retired general, announced last month that he would cancel most live-fire exercises that are “done for show or demonstration purposes.”
Other aspects of the drills this year also face an overhaul, the Ministry of National Defense said.
First, this year’s live-fire exercises would be held at night for the first time to test the armed forces’ 24-hour defense capabilities.
Second, the military’s decentralized command structure would also be put to the test for the first time, with exercises monitoring units’ decision-making capabilities in scenarios simulating loss of contact with the central command during wartime.
Third, each soldier would be expected to follow updated Rules of Engagement (ROE) instructions that explain under what kinds of circumstances they are authorized to use certain weapons or launch counterattacks, for instance.
Although the live-fire aspect would be reduced in this year’s drills, participating troops would be more rigorously tested in a variety of scenarios that could occur without prior warning in a cross-strait war, the ministry said.
Some military experts have praised the proposed changes.
Tamkang University Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies assistant professor Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑) said the live-fire drills of previous Han Kuang exercises were impressive to watch, but had little value in preparing for real battlefield scenarios.
Lin also praised Koo’s decision to test units’ familiarity with the updated ROE, which was revised last year, following repeated incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone by Chinese warplanes, drones and balloons.
“In the event of a [Chinese] People’s Liberation Army full-scale invasion, it is highly likely that soldiers on the frontline could lose contact with the central command, because the enemy would prioritize destroying communication systems,” he said.
It is extremely important that soldiers knows their ROE, informing them where their defensive posts are, and when and how to counterattack, he added.
Lin also said that most of the exercises in previous drills were scripted and planned so that participating troops knew exactly when and where the simulated “invading force” would show up.
This year, the simulated “enemy attack” could happen anytime and anywhere with any available weapon systems, which would better simulate real battlefield conditions
However, some experts were critical of the move.
Retired air force lieutenant general Chang Yen-ting (張延廷) criticized the decision to cancel the practical war game segment during a political talk show on June 24.
“How can soldiers fight if they cannot see their enemies? What will they be shooting at without simulated targets?” he said.
Chang was referring to simulated “invasions” at critical defensive positions across Taiwan where some military units were designated to play the role of “red” invading forces while other units posed as “blue” defense troops.
These red-blue team exercises have been canceled in this year’s exercises, the ministry said.
Chang said that without a simulated enemy, the military exercises would be unrealistic and lack practical value.
“We might as well call off the Han Kuang drills,” he added.
Chief of the General Staff Admiral Mei Chia-shu (梅家樹) said at a June 26 legislative session that the main focus of this year’s drills is to allow combined-arms brigades to focus on “familiarizing themselves with the environment they will be defending should a war break out and practice their defensive plans.”
Given the unrehearsed nature of the new drills format, the ministry canceled most of this year’s live-fire exercises to reduce the chance of unforeseen incidents, Mei said.
However, this does not mean that the armed forces have abandoned live-fire training and landing defense exercises, Mei said.
Live-fire drills would also be staged at two other routine exercises scheduled for this year.
Although live-fire drills have been canceled on Taiwan proper, troops stationed on the nation’s outlying islands would conduct live-fire drills from July 22 to 26, he added.
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at Taiwan’s military-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he understands the rationale behind the changes.
Su said the simulated “situations” would not be announced in advance to put participating military personnel under greater pressure. This would simulate situations that more closely resemble actual combat scenarios.
Chieh Chung (揭仲), a researcher at the Taipei-based think tank Association of Strategic Foresight, does not believe the changes proposed by the new defense minister are a good idea.
Chieh said the military could have made the combat training more “realistic and unscripted” rather than “canceling them altogether.”
He also said it is illogical that the ministry canceled live-fire exercises for troops on Taiwan proper during Han Kuang while continuing live-round shootings on the nation’s outlying islands.
The live-fire component of the annual Han Kuang exercises is scheduled to run from July 22 to 26 this year.
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