Taiwan's Sky Horse TOW Missile Drills Go Secret

TaiwanPlus News

Taiwan’s military has finished its annual Sky Horse drills, using wire-guided missiles to hit targets. Typically, a media spectacle, this year’s drills were conducted in secret—a decision that’s now sparking debate.

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00:00A caravan of military vehicles caught leaving a secret shooting area in Taiwan's southern

00:08county of Pingtung.

00:12And off in the distance, missiles whizzed through the mountains.

00:18These are the annual exercises known as the Sky Horse Drill, which practice using a special

00:23kind of weapon known as the Tow Missile, a guided missile that can be fired from over

00:28three kilometers.

00:29It can destroy tanks and other armored vehicles.

00:58The weapons are a key part of Taiwan's asymmetric defense strategy, which centers on small but

01:08mobile firepower that still packs a punch.

01:12Taiwan used to do this exercise on the coastline, firing dozens of missiles into the ocean.

01:17And while that helps with shooting practice, the exercises have been criticized for being

01:21too static.

01:25But this year's exercise is the first on this mountainside near Hengchun on Taiwan's southern

01:30tip and away from the public.

01:33Some analysts say that it could be part of a push for more realistic exercises, as Taiwan

01:38tries to reform its defense strategy and get a better understanding of how to use these

01:42weapons.

01:43I think there's no other place other than Hengchun, because our geographical location

01:50is too narrow.

01:51The real situation is that after shooting down a group of four armored vehicles, they

01:57need to move to the so-called BD, which is about 300 to 400 meters away.

02:03Last year, the army was criticized for its poor target accuracy after training in front

02:08of the media.

02:10And so they could be moving where they train to give more freedom to practice without fear

02:14of looking bad.

02:15The advantage of being away from the kind of public size is, you know, I think at least

02:19in my mind, demonstrates a certain seriousness of purpose, that we're not here for the cameras.

02:25We're not here for public morale.

02:27You know, like we've all taken like a test at some point in our lives.

02:32Just imagine how much harder that test would be if someone were standing over your shoulder

02:34evaluating you while you're taking that test.

02:39These exercises are just one of dozens of different kinds of drills that Taiwan is trying

02:43to modernize and make more realistic, with the eventual hope that it can perfect its

02:48marksmanship with or without the spotlight of the public.

02:52Fu Huahong and Haimiao Kan for Taiwan Plus.

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