Taiwan conducted live-fire exercises to repel a Chinese amphibious assault
The Taiwanese Armed Forces conducted large-scale live-fire exercises off the coast of the Taiwan Strait. During the maneuvers, artillery and missile units practiced scenarios simulating real combat conditions.
The exercises simulated the repulsion and destruction of a potential amphibious assault that could be launched from China.
The beaches and muddy shoals on Taiwan’s west coast, located across the Taiwan Strait from China, are considered the most likely landing sites for Chinese troops in the event of an invasion.
The exercises were conducted simultaneously from eight positions along a 20-kilometer stretch of coastline in central Taiwan.
The exercises, aimed at creating a continuous strike zone against a Chinese amphibious landing, utilized Taiwan-made Thunderbolt-2000 truck-mounted missile systems, U.S.-made Paladin howitzers, anti-tank missiles, artillery, and mortars.
According to Ong Yih-min, commander of the Taiwanese Defense Forces’ artillery, a distinctive feature of the exercises was that they were conducted according to a scenario that closely resembled real combat conditions.
“The difference between these exercises and past ones is that we no longer conduct artillery fire according to a template or a standard, fixed scenario, as we did before. This time, the timing of moving into positions was based on real combat conditions, and this created a significant level of difficulty for our troops,” he said.
According to the military official, during previous exercises, units would move into position a week in advance and complete their preparations for live-fire exercises there. This time, however, they arrived at the firing lines just one day before, so preparation time was quite limited.
Reuters notes that the Taiwanese government is modernizing its armed forces adding new and more mobile weapons, and is making their training less predictable and more similar to the situations troops will face in real combat operations.
This is reported by Reuters.
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