Taiwan’s latest Quadrennial Defense Review emphasizes the need for enhanced training for its military forces in preparation for a potential Chinese invasion. The initiative comes in response to opinions from U.S. observers and advisers who believe that current Taiwanese defense training is insufficient and lacks battlefield realism, Defense News reported.
Rupert Hammond-Chambers, a defense and foreign policy expert and president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, highlighted that the threat of a Chinese invasion is now seriously addressed in the QDR. “Defense spending has doubled in the past eight years, and the level of support from the U.S., too, has improved in many areas, if not all,” he told Defense News.
Recently, U.S. military support for Taiwan included two proposed foreign military sales of unmanned aerial vehicles and advanced loitering missile systems worth $60.2 million, approved by the Department of State in June. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Defense announced a contract modification worth $81 million with Boeing to provide engineering services for Taiwan’s Harpoon Coastal Defense System.
Realistic Combat Training Areas
Taiwan’s defense review, released in March, urged the armed forces to develop realistic battlefield training environments for joint exercises and live-fire shooting tests to validate their practices in near-realistic combat scenarios. According to the QDR, combat realism in exercises should address diverse enemy threats and rapid changes on the battlefield.
The Han Kuang exercise, which started on April 4, provides an immediate opportunity for enhanced training demonstrations. The duration of the event has been extended to two weeks, compared to last year’s eight-day activities. Maj. Gen. Tung Chi-hsing, director of the Ministry of National Defense’s joint operations planning division, noted in the Defense News report that the training scenarios for 2025 are designed to address the frequent Chinese military exercises that could escalate into a real invasion of Taiwan.
The live-fire exercise for Han Kuang is scheduled to take place from July 8 to 18, with the mobilization of reservists increased to 20,000 conscripts from the 14,000 participants last year.