Taiwan’s Military Conducts Large Defensive Drill

Taiwan’s 41^st Han Kuang 10-day exercise took place this month in response to heightened tensions from China, which claims Taiwan as its own. 

Over 10 days, Taiwanese troops rehearsed how to fight if China invades by deploying HIMARS rocket systems in cities, practicing maneuvers in metro stations, and simulating amphibious defenses on beaches. 

Beijing’s increasingly aggressive posture—flybys of People’s Liberation Army aircraft, simulated blockades, cyber probes—is part of a relentless gray-zone campaign to wear Taiwan down without firing a shot. Taiwan’s response in this year’s drill is refreshingly direct: Train like war could start tomorrow. 

One particularly notable and impressive moment of the drills came on July 14 when Taiwan’s 21st Artillery Command demonstrated the indigenous Sky Sword II surface-to-air missile system in a rapid response drill near Taoyuan Airport.  

Crews had the system online within 15 minutes, using remote control and radar to simulate intercepting inbound threats—marking its first deployment in a Han Kuang exercise. This showcased Taiwan’s growing emphasis on flexible, mobile air-defense capabilities, building survivability through quick deployment and networked radar targeting.  

This was matched with U.S.-sourced Stinger launchers, HESCO barrier systems, and layered coastal defenses. The Sky Sword II debut underscores that this is no static exercise—it’s a dynamic test of Taiwan’s ability to enable air defense in high-threat scenarios. 

Another highlight of the exercise was Taiwan’s newly deployed Hsiung Feng III Extended Range (HF-IIIER) supersonic anti-ship missile. This is a major upgrade, capable of striking targets up to 400 kilometers away, and now integrated into Taiwan’s five-layer coastal defense strategy. 

By mid-exercise on July 15, Han Kuang shifted to practicing combating amphibious and urban advances across the country in Penghu, Kaohsiung, Tainan and Taipei.  

Troops laid sea mines off Kaohsiung, formed defensive fortifications in Tainan using Czech hedgehogs and razor wire, and deployed rare public displays of U.S. FIM92 Stinger missiles on Taipei’s metro rapid transit system to simulate urban defense. The Wan Xiang-series naval mines are designed to damage or deter both enemy surface ships and submarines. 

Early morning drills included rapid-response minelaying in Penghu and simulated enemy beach landings, while military police sealed critical chokepoints like bridges with barricades, drones, snipers and Clouded Leopard infantry fighting vehicles. 

The Penghu Islands, also known as the Pescadores, are an archipelago of around 90 islands located in the Taiwan Strait between mainland China and Taiwan’s western coast. This makes it a natural buffer and a potential forward operating base for either side in a conflict. 

The coordinated use of naval, air-defense, mechanized, and civil-defense assets in multiple zones underscores the integrated, nationwide scope of Taiwan’s defensive posture. 

U.S. assistance has been pivotal to Taiwan’s military capabilities and readiness. Taiwan’s Han Kuang drills prominently feature U.S.-supplied systems—M1A2T Abrams tanks, HIMARS rocket launchers, Patriot and NASAMS air-defense systems, and TOW antitank missiles—showing growing arms cooperation. 

The HIMARS units were specifically placed in urban zones, including Taichung and Taipei, as part of drills simulating defense against an invasion.  

A U.S. Marine Corps Major General joined the planning phase of the exercise, participating at a senior level alongside Taiwan’s Defense Minister—a rare occurrence illustrating deepening strategic coordination.  

Although the U.S. did not send combat units into the drills, on July 17 troops conducted logistical training under U.S. Transportation Command alongside the simulated escorting of U.S. supply ships. 

The 41st Han Kuang exercise makes one thing clear: Defense preparation is no longer theoretical—it’s urgent, adaptive, and unapologetically realistic. Across city streets, beaches, subways, and islands, Taiwan displayed a nationwide posture built on mobility, firepower, and evolving U.S. cooperation. 

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