MILITARY CONCLUDES ROUND-THE-CLOCK SIMULATED WARFARE DRILLS
ROC Central News Agency
2007-04-21 14:17:19
Taipei, April 21 (CNA) Taiwan's military has concluded a series of simulated cyber warfare maneuvers in which the various branches of the armed forces conducted mock counterattacks on China's coastal military targets after a simulated surprise attack by China, military sources said Saturday.
The round-the-clock five-day computerized warfare simulation that ended Friday was part of the annual "Han Kuang" series of combined services military exercises aimed at honing combat strategies and battlefield management tactics, the sources said.
This year's cyber war games also marked the first time that Taiwan's armed forces have practiced counterattack strategies and skills in simulated warfare drills, the sources said, adding that in the mock counterattacks, Taiwan troops struck coastal Chinese military targets and booming cities with such weapons as cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles.
The military's Joint Operations Command Center, the Joint Operations Training Center, and tactical command offices at various strategic military units took part in the computerized maneuvers, the sources said, adding that a U.S. delegation, headed by former Pacific Command Commander-in-Chief Adm. Dennis C. Blair, was on hand to observe the whole process.
The Ministry of National Defense is scheduled to brief the press on the details of the "Han Kuang 23" cyber warfare maneuvers at its routine news conference next Tuesday, the sources said.
According to the sources, the war game scenario was set in 2012 when China, frustrated by Taiwan's long-term resistance against unification talks, decides to take advantage of Taiwan's procrastination in military arsenal upgrading to accelerate its push for cross-strait unification by launching an all-out surprise attack on Taiwan proper and its outlying island of Penghu.
In the first three days of the simulated Chinese invasion, Taiwan incurred severe human and material losses from China's saturated ballistic missile assault as well as naval and aerial bombardment. Afterwards, Taiwan's armed forces managed to get up to steam to stage counterattacks on China's coastal military targets and its major cities, causing heavy human casualties and major destruction.
In the warfare scenario, the military strikes not only took a heavy toll on the economic well-being of both sides of the Taiwan Strait but also adversely impacted the global economy and caused a worldwide panic. In the end, the United States and other Western countries jointly mediated a ceasefire.
The simulated war games didn't cover the use of nuclear weapons or Taiwan military attacks on China's aircraft carrier battle groups as some media outlets had speculated, the sources said.
Meanwhile, the sources said, the U.S. observation group focused in particular on assessing the Taiwan military personnel's "combat spirit" to see whether their morale has been affected by the prolonged political infighting that has cast a shadow over society since the transition of power between different political parties back in 2000.
In weighing the military's "combat spirit," the sources said, the U.S. delegation wanted to determine whether Taiwan would likely lean toward China and whether any advanced U.S.-built weaponry systems or sophisticated defense strategies would end up in the hands of the Chinese communists.
Following the completion of the cyber warfare maneuvers, the sources said, the military will start a five-day psychological warfare training program aimed at enhancing service members' combat morale, battlefield adaptability and stress management abilities.
The "Han Kuang" series is the largest-scale combined services military exercise to be staged in Taiwan every year. In addition to the computerized war games, it also covers live-fire military maneuvers, which will be held later this year.
(By Sofia Wu)
enditem/Li
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
