Taiwan Conducts Combined Arms Exercises as U.S. Weapons Trickle In

TaiwanPlus News

Taiwan’s military is conducting two days of live-fire exercises employing various weapons systems. With additional U.S. weapons on the way, the country faces the challenge of integrating them effectively into its defensive deployment.

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00:00Taiwanese army helicopters firing live ammunition at this mountainside in southern Pingtung

00:06County.

00:09The military here is conducting two days of exercises, focusing on defense through combined

00:14arms warfare.

00:16That means using a combination of different weapons and vehicles from different services

00:20to maximize firepower on a single point.

00:24Keeping that ability of the different branches and troops in different parts of the battle

00:29space and different equipment to effectively coordinate is really difficult.

00:34It's essential for effective modern combat.

00:37So the more practice you can have doing it, the better.

00:41Taiwan is working to increase the frequency and complexity of its various military drills,

00:46pushing for more realistic combat training in the face of threats from neighboring China.

00:52Taiwan is reforming its training and has purchased over 20 billion U.S. dollars worth of weapons

00:57from the U.S., its largest security partner.

01:00It's set to receive the first batch of 38 U.S.-made Abrams tanks by the end of December.

01:06But some say the military will have a tough time using them in some of Taiwan's dense

01:10urban environments.

01:11Those tanks are heavy and slow in terms of maneuver.

01:17Moreover, they will face a huge challenge due to Taiwan's terrain.

01:23The Taiwanese military will need to figure out how to use them smartly in order to maximize

01:32their functions and lower their shortcomings.

01:37Taiwan is expected to receive an influx of U.S. systems after lengthy delays, and there

01:41are concerns about how effectively the military can integrate these weapons into its training.

01:46Some analysts in the U.S. say Taiwan should take advantage of the time between weapons

01:50deliveries to learn how to master these systems.

01:54The fact that they're also coming in in tranches means that you can have that time in between

01:57the tranches to learn how to get those theories of operations and sort of tactical level understanding

02:04of the equipment.

02:05It's really in the hands of MND and the services in Taiwan to, you know, figure out the best

02:10way to use these.

02:12And there will be growing pain.

02:14As Taiwan continues to adapt its military, new hardware should provide a much-needed

02:19boost to the country's defense.

02:21But without proper training and exercises, even the best weapons may prove ineffective.

02:26Andy Hsieh and Jaime O'Connor for Taiwan Plus.

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