Military stages rehearsal for anti-takeover drill at Taoyuan airport
ROC Central News Agency
07/12/2023 05:38 PM
Taipei, July 12 (CNA) Taiwan's military on Wednesday morning held a rehearsal for an anti-takeover drill at Taoyuan International Airport, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND).
The drill at Taiwan's main international gateway is designed to test the armed forces' cross-branch coordination and emergency response capabilities during a simulated Chinese invasion, the MND said.
In the rehearsal staged at a hanger of the Taoyuan International Airport, members of the Aviation and Special Forces Command and Army Airborne Special Forces acted as the red team invading force, with the blue team formed by ground troops from Sixth Army Corps serving as the defenders.
The red team was originally set to arrive at the drill ground in Army helicopters but decided to call off the plan during Wednesday's rehearsal given the fact that nearby schools were hosting college entrance exams, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND).
The rehearsal saw the red team perform a simulated attack on the airport while the blue team, which was joined by Army soldiers, aviation police officers and airport firefighters stationed at the Taoyuan International Airport, performed the defense.
The red team also simulated a bomb attack at the airport with the airport firefighters using two Oshkosh Striker 3000 firefighting vehicles to distinguish the explosives.
A military source responsible for supervising Wednesday's rehearsal told CNA that the exercise was meant to test the airport authorities' capabilities to coordinate with the military and other government branches in response to an airborne invasion.
It is also meant to test the military's emergency response to such invasion, the unnamed source added.
Wednesday morning marks the first round of rehearsal for the drill to be staged at Taoyuan Airport on July 26, as part of the live-fire portion of this year's Han Kuang exercises.
A second rehearsal will be staged on July 19.
The anti-takeover drill is the first such exercise staged at Taoyuan International Airport since it opened in 1979.
Transportation Minister Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材), who previously said the drill is scheduled to last about an hour, later revised this to two hours.
According to the minister, the drill will affect at least 61 flights and more than 4,000 passengers.
Past reports of plans related to the exercises have indicated that the airport will remain open to passenger traffic while the drills are being held but that one of the airport's two runways may be closed on the morning of July 26.
The MND, Transportation Ministry, and Taoyuan airport operators provided no further details about possible flight delays or whether passengers connecting through the airport should adjust their plans, despite there being only about two weeks before the drills are to be held.
Meanwhile, a rehearsal was also held at the temporary coastal fortifications constructed by Army reservists near the Port of Taipei in New Taipei's Bali District on Wednesday morning.
The 100-meter-long temporary trench system was constructed as part of a simulated response to a Chinese invasion, according to the military.
The annual Han Kuang exercises, which have served as Taiwan's major war games since 1984, consist of live-fire drills and computerized war games and are meant to test Taiwan's combat readiness in the face of a possible Chinese invasion.
This year's tabletop exercises were staged in May.
The five-day island-wide live-fire exercises portion, meanwhile, is scheduled for July 24 to 28.
(By Matt Yu, Wu Sheng-hung and Joseph Yeh)
Enditem/ASG
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