Taiwan puts on show of military force
Taiwan puts on show of military force
CHECHENG, Taiwan (AFP): Taiwan's armed forces staged on Friday
a powerful display of military might to warn off rival China in
huge war games here, which come as Washington mulls selling more
high-tech weaponry to Taipei.
A total of 3,380 soldiers and officers were involved in the
live-fire anti-landing war games on a beach of the southern
Pingtung county.
However, the military tried to down play the significance of
the drill which comes as the new administration of U.S. President
George W. Bush is considering whether to sell Taiwan destroyers
equipped with the Aegis radar system, against the wishes of
Beijing.
"The exercise is a routine one," a defense ministry spokesman
said.
The drill also took place amid a row between China and the US
over the April 1 mid-air collision between a U.S. spy plane and a
Chinese fighter over the South China Sea.
China is bitterly opposed to the proposed Aegis sale, fearing
the system could help bring Taiwan under the umbrella of a future
US missile defense system.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 at the end of a civil war, but
Beijing still regards the island as a renegade province awaiting
reunification.
President Chen Shui-bian did not attend the exercise in a move
local media said was aimed at dampening cross-Strait tensions.
Chen, from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party,
has refused to embrace Beijing's "one China" principle, although
he has guaranteed not to declare independence.
The exercises played out a scenario of defense maneuvers
against Chinese forces crossing the middle of the Taiwan Strait
and moving towards the southern part of the island.
"We were immediately put on a alert in a scenario where the
Chinese communist troops were about 28 kilometers off southern
Taiwan," an army spokesman said.
Varied weapons were mobilized to wipe out the enemy.
"The purpose of the anti-landing drill was to display our new
generation of forces supported by high-tech weapons," the
spokesman said.
Four F-5E fighters kicked off the anti-landing drill,
launching rockets at the mock enemy.
One locally made Hsiungfeng I ship-ship missile, a sea-
skimmer, was launched from one of the two missile boats.
Drawing the spotlight were US-made AH-1W Super Cobra attack
helicopters and OH-58D scout helicopters, which launched Hellfire
missiles and rockets. From the shore, smart bombs were fired
guided by laser beams from scout helicopters.
The army also debuted the locally made RT2000 Artillery
Multiple Launch Rocket System.
"Twenty-seven rockets can be fired in 52 seconds," said an
officer with the military-run Chungshan Institute of Science and
Technology which is in charge of the rocket development system.
He said the system outperformed the same kind of US-made MLRS.
"One rocket is capable of carrying M77 warheads to targets up to
45 kilometers away, and could spread shrapnel across 200,000
square meters, an area the size of six soccer grounds," the
officer said.
"I believe an invading enemy would hardly survive such a
powerful weapon," he said.
Also used in the 45-minute exercise were howitzers, M60-A3
tanks, mortars and machine guns, wrapping up the biggest military
drill of the year codenamed "Han Kuang (Han Glory) 17."
The number of Taiwan troops has been slashed from 450,000 to
around 380,000, but the defense ministry said the military's
firepower has been boosted by 75 percent.
The core of Taiwan's air force includes 150 US-made F-16
fighters, 60 French-made Mirage 2000-5s and 130 locally developed
Indigenous Defensive Fighters (IDF).
Its navy is primarily composed of seven locally-built Perry
class frigates, six French-built Lafayette class frigates, and
six Knox class frigates which Taiwan leased from the United
States.