Taiwan Holds Military Drills Simulating Naval Invasion By China
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Jan 17, 2017
Taiwan today sent the clearest message to China that it is taking deteriorating diplomatic relations with its estranged mainland cousin seriously, when the island nation began two days of military drills simulating an attack by China, in the wake of Beijing’s sailing of an aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait, as the government sought to reassure the public.
The island’s armed forces gathered in central Taiwan for annual drills that saw troops practise combat skills with tanks, attack helicopters and artillery. The drill was conducted in Taichung by the 10th Army Command and the Army Aviation and Special Forces Command. It simulated a scenario in which a Chinese naval fleet comprising destroyers, corvettes and amphibious assault ships was conducting training off China’s southeastern coast.
In the scenario, first reported by Taiwan’s China Post, the fleet unexpectedly sailed east across the hypothetical mid-line of the Taiwan Strait, and several helicopters also took off from the amphibious assault ships toward Taiwan’s air defense identification zone. In counteraction, the Army dispatched M109 self-propelled howitzers, M60A3 main battle tanks, CM-32 armoured vehicles, AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters, and OH-58D Kiowa armed reconnaissance helicopters to launch an attack upon the enemy forces, in collaboration with paratroopers descending from UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters.
“The military has active measures to deal with the situation in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea so the public can rest assured. We will enhance training 365 days a year,” defence spokesman Chen Chung-chi said.
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