Military stages beach landing drill in Pingtung
ROC Central News Agency
2013/04/18 17:00:24
Taipei, April 18 (CNA) Taiwan's military staged a beach landing drill in the southern county of Pingtung on Thursday as part of the annual Han Kuang military exercises being held this week.
The drill comprised a string of eight attacks, the first one beginning at 6:30 a.m. with a simulated attack against beach targets by an assault amphibious vehicle (AAVP7) and an amphibious mechanized landing craft.
During the drill, Marines had to remove underwater explosive devices, while sorties of fighter jets and attack helicopters provided air cover to the landing operation.
A gate on a mechanized landing craft became stuck during the exercise and maintenance personnel onboard had to deal quickly with the problem.
Navy officers said it was not an unexpected malfunction but rather an important part of the drill to test emergency maintenance ability.
Chief of the General Staff Yen Ming, Army Commander Gen. Lee Hsiang-chou, and Deputy Commander of the Navy Sa Hsiao-yun inspected the exercise, which involved more than 4,000 troops.
In addition to the exercise in Pingtung, another drill was conducted at the Air Force base in Hsinchu County, with the participation of more than 2,000 servicemen.
However, a series of parachute exercise was canceled due to strong winds.
The drills, which did not use live ammunition, were part of the five-day Han Kuang exercises, which began Wednesday in the offshore county of Penghu with live ammunition being used for the first time since 2008.
A second round of Han Kuang exercises will be held in July, focusing on computer-aided war games.
(By Kuo Chu-chen, Lni Jui-i and Jamie Wang)
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